ClutchPoints
Although the Buffalo Bills are playing at home in their upcoming divisional round playoff matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, Bills great Thurman Thomas says Lamar Jackson is under more pressure to win than Josh Allen.
Both Allen and Jackson are the two favorites to win the 2024 MVP award, with the Bills quarterback being a slight favorite over Jackson. However, both quarterbacks are looking to win a Super Bowl for the first time after years of coming up just short. While Allen may be the home quarterback, it’s the Ravens who are slight favorites despite being the No. 3 seed and playing on the road.
Both quarterbacks are under immense pressure to finally break through and win a Super Bowl, but the Bills legend says Jackson faces more pressure due to already having won two MVP awards along with having a better supporting cast.
“I would say it would be Lamar and only from the simple fact that a lot of the so-called experts were saying that the Bills would finish third our division behind the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins,” says Thomas in a one-on-one interview with ClutchPoints. “I don’t think a lot of pressure is on Josh Allen or the Buffalo Bills. I think more of the pressure is on Lamar Jackson because he won a playoff game last year. But he kind of struggled in the playoffs.”
Thomas continues to reiterate that Jackson has better weapons with arguably the best running back of this generation in Derrick Henry. The Ravens finished third in the league with 30.5 points per game, spearheaded by their league-leading rushing attack due to Henry and Jackson.
A bold prediction that Thomas makes is that Jackson will win his third MVP award, which is why he thinks the pressure is more on Jackson than Allen.
“I think he’s going to win his third MVP this year coming up,” says Thomas of Jackson. “Everybody wants to see him take that next step. They had an opportunity to do it last year, and Kansas City went in there and beat them in their home stadium. Now, Lamar has a lot more pressure on him, because if he does beat the Buffalo Bills, almost accordingly, he will play the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, if they beat Houston. I think a lot of the pressure is on Lamar because he has weapons.”
Thomas makes a fair point. Jackson hasn’t exactly lit up the postseason, posting a mediocre 81.2 passer rating with eight touchdowns and six interceptions. By comparison, Jackson has a 102.0 passer rating in the regular season. It also doesn’t help that Jackson has gone just 3-4 and been to one conference championship game.
However, it’s worth also noting that Allen has only been to the conference championship game once with the Bills and has gone 0-3 against the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs. But he does sport a 6-5 record and much better numbers than Jackson with a 102.3 career passer...
