Lamar Jackson Downplays 'Revenge' Angle In Ravens Opener Against Mahomes, Chiefs

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The NFL season begins on Thursday night with one of the most highly-anticipated matchups of Week 1: Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens facing Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Of course, the Ravens' 2023-24 season ended with a loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship at home. 

That naturally led to a question about whether Jackson views the game as a chance to get "revenge" on the team that ended his bid for a Super Bowl victory. 

"Any game I play in, I feel like it's a revenge game," Jackson said, according to the Ravens team website. "I'm not just going to look at this game like a revenge game. Anybody we play, no matter if we've beaten them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win."

This is the right attitude for Jackson to have, particularly because this game doesn't matter nearly as much as the one in January. It's one of 17 regular season games and counts the same as the other 16. 

Plus, Jackson doesn't have much to prove in the regular season. With Jackson starting, the Baltimore Ravens are 58-19 over the past six years. 

The problem is the lack of postseason success. 

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson isn't looking at his team's season opener against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as a "revenge" game even though the Chiefs eliminated the Ravens in last year's playoffs.

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson isn't looking at his team's season opener against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as a "revenge" game even though the Chiefs eliminated the Ravens in last year's playoffs. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

(Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports)

Jackson has started six playoff games in his career and the Ravens are 2-4. They haven't won multiple games in any postseason since Jackson became the starter. 

His 57% completion percentage in the playoffs is a lot worse than his career regular season mark (64%). 

Lamar Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP, but quarterbacks don't create legacies in the regular season. That comes in the playoffs. 

Despite the lack of postseason success, the Ravens tied themselves to Jackson for several more years with a lucrative contract extension last year. 

They're not paying him to keep getting to the playoffs and lose, though. Baltimore believes it can win a Super Bowl with Lamar Jackson starting at quarterback. 

Maybe they can, maybe they can't. So far, they haven't. 

And nothing that happens on Thursday night is going to change that.