Ahead of Saturday night's postseason showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lamar Jackson is focusing on keeping himself in Zen mode.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback said some of his postseason struggles in the past are due to being too amped up.
"Yes, I'm [usually] just too excited -- that's all," Jackson said, via the official team transcript. "[I'm] too antsy, that's all. I'm seeing things before it happens, like, 'Oh, I have to calm myself down.' But just being more experienced, I've found a way to balance it out."
The Ravens are 2-4 in playoff games with Jackson under center. In those contests, he's completed 57.4 percent of his passes with six passing touchdowns and six interceptions for a 75.7 passer rating with 1.5 giveaways per game and 4.3 sacks per game. Contrast those figures with a 70-24 regular-season record, 64.9 completion rate, 164-49 pass TD-INT ratio, a 101.9 rating, 0.8 giveaways per tilt and 2.0 sacks per contest.
The Ravens have averaged 16.0 points per game in the playoffs since 2019 (27.4 in the regular season).
Jackson is one of six QBs with a winning percentage of .700-plus since the 1970 merger (min. 25 starts) -- Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning. Of the six, the Ravens signal-caller is the lone with a losing record in the playoffs.
"You have to try to be mistake-free," Jackson said. "The game is won with the turnover battle and keeping the ball in your control -- moving the ball down the field, getting first downs, putting points on the board, obviously. That's how you win those games."
Jackson took his play to the next level this regular season. His pocket presence has improved, and he continues to be deadly with both his arm and legs. His 4,172 passing yards are by far a career-high, displaying the strides he's made as a slinger. He set career-highs in passing yards, passing TDs (41), offensive yards (5,087), offensive TDs (45), and passer rating (119.6).
Jackson became the first player in NFL history to lead the NFL in pass yards per attempt (8.8) and rush yards per carry (6.6) in the same season (minimum 125 carries in the season).
Despite putting the ball in the air more than any other season, Jackson tossed just four INTs. His 41-4 pass TD-INT ratio (10.3) in 2024 is the highest by any QB in a season with at least 30 pass TDs in NFL history.
