Why Beating the Colts Made Lamar Jackson Look Better Than Josh Allen | Ep 1238

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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Jason Whitlock (0:30)

I told y'all, I told y'all Lamar Jackson was winning his third MVP this season. I told y'all Baltimore was back baby. Week one in Indianapolis was not a polite sample size. It was the receipt baby. Lamar Jackson is back. Now, I'll give you, Josh Allen, he put on the show in Houston, 334 yards, two touchdowns through the air, two more with his legs. Bill's win 36-31 on the road in a building that had owned Buffalo since 2006 The Texans hadn't allowed 35 plus points since 2023

Josh Allen, he lived in Joe Brady's Chunk Place sandbox, 7.9 yards per snap, deep shot to 34 yard dagger to Joshua Palmer for the winner.

That's a franchise quarterback dragging a new head coach across the finish line. Salute, real football, real star power. It's still the B side.

Charles (1:35)

There's that fire, grab your popcorn.

Jason Whitlock (1:38)

Because you know what the A side is? It's Lamar Jackson. He walked into Indianapolis and turned a road opener into a statement. 324 passing yards, a touchdown through the air, another on the ground. He rushed for 40 yards, Ravens 41-23.

506 yards of offense, touchdowns on four of the first five possessions, 31 points before halftime. The Colts punched first and Baltimore answered by putting a good football team in a headlock and keeping the boot on their neck until the clock quit arguing. Yes, Lamar had more help than Josh Allen. Own it out loud so the lonely QB crowd can stop whispering it like it's a scandal. King Derek Henry ran for 144 yards and three scores. Over the past seven regular seasons, Henry has averaged roughly 1,532 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns a year on five yards per carry. In the postseason sample across that same window, he's been even meaner per game.

Zay Flowers went for 150 before the hamstring ended his night. Declan Doyle, first game calling plays in the NFL, dialed it up. Elite football is not a loneliness contest, it's a command. Josh Allen needed big plays and still only cleared Houston by five. Lamar and the Ravens cleared Indy by 18 on the road with a brand new head coach on the sideline and a brand new play caller in the booth. Only the second time as teammates, Lamar has thrown for 300 plus yards and Derrick Henry has run for 100 plus. When Lamar hits 300 through the air, Baltimore is 9-1 in those games. It's not a random explosion. That's a standard walking into September already dressed for work. All right, I've got a bias. I got skin in this one. Jesse Mentor's dad. Jesse Mentor, the new coach in Baltimore. His dad was Ball State's defensive coordinator when I played there in the 1980s. Jesse was born in Muncie, Indiana while I was still in that Ball State program. I've watched Rick develop Jesse. I'm rooting for Jesse, for Lamar, for this Ravens group and affection does not rewrite the tape.

Albert Breer said it clean. Mentor's team looked like the Ravens, overpowering run as the foundation, a multiple defense that kept Indy from chunking them to death. Lamar surgical at 17 of 25 with Doyle stressing the details Jackson keeps praising. First Ravens game in 19 years without John Harbaugh on the sideline and the identity did not leak out of the building.

Maybe Josh Allen finishes with the year with gaudier stats. Maybe. Fine. Lamar is going to produce the better team, the better record and the stronger Super Bowl threat. LJ has the perfect coach and the perfect running mate in King Henry. Allen's afternoon was a star surviving a knife fight. Lamar's was a star running a program. Beating the coach on the road the way Baltimore beat them is a higher degree of difficulty and the cleaner receipt. Week one data point. On this data point, the more impressive quarterback wore purple and the third MVP campaign just introduced itself.

I was thinking of Jay Schaepernick this morning as I prepared that because Jay Schaepernick for some reason has no respect for Lamar Jackson. Let's put some respect on Lamar Jackson's name. This dude is built different. He is built different. This challenge, he doesn't have a contract right now. He's pushed all his chips into the middle of the table. We could be looking at Lamar's best year. We're certainly on the road. We've got one down, 16 more to go. I still love Lamar Jackson for MVP. Let's bring in the panel, Jay Schaepernick, Braden Fajoko, Charles, and of course, the Korean Co-Sale. Jay, I'm going to start with you because you are the resident Lamar Jackson idiot.