Stephen A. Smith offered a damning verdict of Lamar Jackson’s performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, suggesting he’ll never win a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens if he can’t beat Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs started their attempt at a historic third-straight Super Bowl victory with a thrilling 27-20 win over the Ravens on Thursday night.
Baltimore thought they had tied the game up at 27-27 with zero seconds left on the clock but tight end Isaiah Likely’s toe was out of bounds as he caught Jackson’s pass.
Jackson produced an inspired rushing performance to keep the Ravens in the game but he agonizingly overthrew an earlier pass to Likely in the end zone and missed a wide-open Zay Flowers, too.
Defeat against Mahomes on Thursday extended Jackson’s record to 1-5 against the Chiefs star with their previous meeting coming in last season’s AFC Championship game, which saw the Ravens lose at home.
Stephen A. Smith has claimed Lamar Jackson is still levels below rival Patrick Mahomes
Speaking on his own YouTube show on Friday, Smith said Jackson proved again he is not on the same level of Mahomes and feared for his chances of ever beating the Chiefs quarterback again.
He said: ‘Lamar Jackson looks spectacular if you just look at the numbers but you’ve got to look at the outcome. When the game was on the line he couldn’t make the necessary throw.
‘Call it what you will. Lamar Jackson – as big time and as much of a superstar and improves passer as he is – there are levels to this.
‘When you look at that record and you had a chance to erase that and you missed a pass to Likely in the left corner of the end zone. You overthrew him. He’s 6,4 and you still overthrew him.
‘The biggest miss was Zay Flowers. Wide open, nobody within seven yards of him and Lamar Jackson missed him by five. It wasn’t even close. It was that awful of a throw, that bad of a miss.
‘I don’t know if the Ravens win the game or not because even after scoring the touchdown John Harbaugh was going for two so it’s entirely possible they got stopped on the two-point conversion and lost the game.
Jackson missed throws to Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely at crucial times in the fourth quarter
Jackson eventually found Likely for a dramatic late touchdown but his toe was out of bounds
‘But here’s the bottom line: the superstar that is Lamar Jackson, with the game on the line and in his hands, made two bad errant throws that we all know Patrick Mahomes would have made.
‘He’s going to have to do better and the Baltimore Ravens are going to have to do better. Their defense was discombobulated, there were several missed assignments, don’t get me started on the illegal formation calls against them.
‘But Patrick Mahomes had a good game and you’re going to have to figure out as a defense to be a bunch of roughriders. They’ve still got a lot to do on defense and offense.
‘But either way, the biggest storyline that you take away from this game is that Lamar Jackson, the superstar that he is, still comes up a touch short against Patrick Mahomes.
‘How are they going to win a Super Bowl in the Lamar Jackson era if they can’t find a way to outduel Patrick Mahomes, particularly in the biggest moments?’
Smith also criticized the Ravens for not involving new running back Derrick Henry, insisting they should have ‘got another receiver’ if they weren’t going to use him to the full.
The thrilling season opener between the Chiefs and Ravens was the most-watched opening NFL game ever, according to NBC. Data shows the audience peaked at 33 million viewers in the second quarter.
Taylor Swift watched Travis Kelce and the Chiefs hold on for a win on the NFL’s opening night
Fans were desperate to watch the return of football and also catch a glimpse of Taylor Swift as she returned to Arrowhead Stadium to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce in action.
The game averaged 28.9 millions viewers across NBC and it’s streaming service Peacock. It beat the viewership of last season’s opener – which saw the Detroit Lions shock the Chiefs – by five per cent.
Swift stunned in a denim outfit and thigh-high boots as she took her seat alongside Kelce’s father, Ed. Swift later was sat with his mom, Donna.
The New York Post published pictures that showed the couple boarding a flight to New York on Friday.
Kelce was visible in a baseball hat and a t-shirt and shorts but his girlfriend used an umbrella to prevent photographers from capturing her face.
The couple have been seen out together in New York before. Back in October 2023, they made surprise appearances on Saturday Night Live before having dinner at the Waverley Inn.