Lamar Jackson wrote history tonight in his Ravens’ victory over the New York Jets. He broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing yards record, and besides that threw five touchdown passes, backing up his candidacy for the MVP award.
On the opening drive of the night, Jackson, who needed 23 yards to eclipse Vick, rushed 27, writing his name in every sports history book. He would end the game with 86 yards on the ground on 8 carries, totaling up to 1,108 yards since the start of this championship. With a possibility to improve that in the upcoming two weeks.
“It felt wonderful,” Jackson stated, following the game. “It’s amazing right now. It still hasn’t hit me, but I’m enjoying.”
Over the past 13 years, since Vick posted this record, no QB was even close to reaching it, let alone surpassing the limit as Jackson did. Almost immediately after he managed to break his achievement, Vick congratulated the 22-year old, saying that he will always root for him.
“Lamar, I just want to say congratulations on making history,” Vick said. “One of many milestones that you will surpass in your career. Best of luck in everything that you do. You deserve it. Keep up the hard work, and I’ll always be rooting for you.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1-vhhiACBE
Jackson, arguably one of the biggest potentials the NFL has seen over the last decade, didn’t only break records in this campaign. He led his Ravens to the second straight AFC North title and is pretty close to cinching the conference and the home-field advantage in the playoffs.
His Ravens (12-2) will have a bye in the first round if Kansas City loses against the Broncos or Patriots suffer a defeat vs. Bengals.
This was the seventh game this season for Jackson in which he had three or more TD passes, which is the highest in the NFL. However, he is close to breaking several more records.
At the moment, LJ and Vinny Testaverde are tied for the single-season TD passes franchise record with 33 each. Jackson will, for sure, have a lot of opportunities to change that in the next two weeks, and break this record too.
The last pick of the 2018 NFL Draft first round, also has a chance to become the first-ever QB with a passer rating over 100 and 1,000 rushing yards. That would be an achievement hard to reach anytime soon in the future.
Jackson is the frontrunner for the NFL MVP award, and the most popular player in the league at the moment. He is the No.1 in voting for the Pro-Bowl and a sensation that threatens to break all the mainstream schemes of modern football.
“I can’t tell you how to defend myself, you know, regardless of what people may do, I’m gonna play harder than they do,” he responded when a reporter asked him how would he defend himself.
The Ravens are ahead two very tough matches that will close their season. Both of them are against the fierce division rivals. The first is next week in Cleveland against the Browns, who, although are in the middle of the turbulent period, have the capability of making the situation very unpleasant.
Following that clash, Baltimore awaits the Pittsburgh Steelers in the last week, on December 29. That match might be the season-defining for both sides, as Mike Tomlin’s guys also chase the playoff spot.
Nikola Velickovic is a sports journalist who loves to write and read on all sports. Nikola contributes both news updates and functions as a sports breaking news writer at WagerBop.
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Email: nikola@wagerbop.com
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