Ravens WR Slams Lamar Jackson’s MVP Loss

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson fell just short of winning his third MVP award.

The 2024 MVP race between Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen may be the most controversial in recent history.

Jackson seemed to have his third MVP in the bag when he was named a first-team All-Pro over Allen last month, because the same group of voters decide both. Allen pulled off the upset, though, with several voters splitting their votes between Jackson for All-Pro and Allen for MVP.

Needless to say, many around the league are confused at how Jackson lost out on the highest individual honor in football, especially his teammates.

While speaking with NBC Sports, Ravens wide reciever Rashod Bateman said Jackson was “robbed” of the his MVP hat trick.

“I hope I don’t get in trouble for this,” Bateman said. “It’s definitely behind the scenes of what’s going on. That’s just the world we live in, ’cause it’s night and day.

“He should have won MVP, he was robbed. Lamar was All-Pro, and he didn’t win MVP. … He had him beat in every category, so it’s like, bro, what are we looking at? … Respect to Josh, we all know he’s an amazing player. But I mean, when you watch the game and look at the numbers, it’s like what are we valuing here?”

It’s not clear what exactly Bateman means by “behind the scenes,” but there are some plausible theories. He could be referring to voter fatigue, as Jackson already having two MVPs could’ve pushed some voters to pick Allen just to mix it up. However, there are plenty of other factors at play.

When looking at the stats, it’s clear to see why Bateman and many others believe Jackson should’ve won the award instead. The only major categories Allen beat Jackson in are rushing touchdowns (12 vs. four) and team record (13-4 vs. 12-5).

Keep in mind, all major NFL awards are supposed to only take the regular season into account, so Allen’s head-to-head win over Jackson in the Divisional Round wouldn’t have had an impact on the voting.

Some will point to Jackson’s 2023 season, when he had relatively pedestrian stats but still won MVP anyway, as a counterpoint to the stats argument. However, Allen had 18 interceptions that season and finished fifth in MVP voting, so it’s not like he was “robbed,” as some try to claim. If anyone was “robbed” last year, it was either Dak Prescott or Christian McCaffrey.

Sure, there is slightly different criteria to MVP and All-Pro, with the former generally more subjective. Even considering that, it’s still bizarre that Allen is the first MVP since 1987 to not be a first-team All-Pro, despite his direct competition for MVP earning that honor.