New on Sports Illustrated: Lamar Jackson Needs to Be Better in Big Games: Unchecked

Lamar Jackson has been stellar in his career thus far, except in the most marquee showdowns.

Lamar Jackson is a terrific player, but it's hard to truly consider him an elite quarterback until he starts performing better in big games. 

And the four turnovers he had in Sunday’s loss, which negated the Baltimore Ravens doubling up the Pittsburgh Steelers in yards, ain’t gonna cut it.

It’d be one thing if this was an isolated event, but Jackson struggling in marquee showdowns is starting to become a trend. He’s 0-2 in the playoffs with five turnovers and Baltimore hasn’t topped 20 points in those contests. Jackson is also 0-3 against the Kansas City Chiefs while failing to throw for 100 yards in the loss against them earlier this season. Playing poorly against division rival Pittsburgh only brings those facts into focus.

Now in fairness to Jackson, he is clearly the overwhelming focus of the opposing team’s defense. And it is only common sense that it would be more difficult to go off in those circumstances against higher-quality competition. However, when you’re an MVP and being compared to the likes of Patrick Mahomes, in a league where Russell Wilson is at his peak and a 43-year-old Tom Brady is still balling, Jackson is going to have to be better when it really matters to fully be considered amongst the upper echelon of the elites.

Lamar is only in his third season in the league, so there’s still plenty of room for improvement. And he’s obviously electrifying to watch. He just needs to be as electrifying when everyone is watching.