2024 marks PressBox’s eighth annual Best Of edition celebrating the top people, performances and moments of the year.
As PressBox honors Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson as the 2024 Mo Gaba Sportsperson of the Year, here’s a look at some of the moments that have stood out this season.
Best Improv
Trailing by 10 with a little more than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter of an October game in Cincinnati, anything but a score would have likely doomed the Ravens. So when Lamar Jackson dropped a shotgun snap on second-and-goal, things looked bleak. He was able to pick up the ball, but Sam Hubbard was immediately in his face for what would have been a 12-yard loss. In very Lamar Jackson fashion, he instead stiff-armed Hubbard to the turf, kept the play alive and just as he was about to run out of bounds he fired the ball into the end zone for a touchdown to Isaiah Likely. As Kevin Harlan once said, “He is Houdini.”
Best Jackson Five
In an October “Monday Night Football” road win against the Buccaneers, Lamar Jackson threw for five touchdowns and no interceptions. That probably deserves more fanfare than the very matter-of-fact way that you just read it, but it’s just so common for our Mo Gaba Sportsperson of the Year that it’s kind of hard to get all that worked up about. It was the fifth such game of Jackson’s career, matching Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning for the third-most of all time behind only Tom Brady and Drew Brees (eight apiece). One of those players still has a lot of career ahead of him to add to the list.
Best Perfection
During a PressBox editorial meeting, we jotted down “Lamar Jackson vs. the Broncos” as being worthy of “Best Of” recognition. Then when we prepared our write-ups we thought, “What was so special about the Broncos game?” Now you might be thinking, “It’s a little embarrassing that you forgot about a literal perfect passer rating,” but that’s kind of the point. It happens a lot! Jackson finished the November game in Baltimore with a 158.3 rating, the fourth perfect passer rating of his career. That tied Ben Roethlisberger for the most all time and stands alone as the most perfect passer-rating games with at least 15 attempts. It’s probably worth noting that the Broncos had one of the better defenses in the NFL, but that type of thing doesn’t seem to matter to Jackson.
Best Deja Vu
There is no doubt that Lamar Jackson is in the collective nightmares of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals held the Ravens’ offense in check for most of the first three quarters in their November rematch in Baltimore. Leading 21-7, the Ravens were able to force a turnover and get the ball to the Bengals’ 11-yard line. But on second-and-9, Jackson was in serious trouble. Three defenders collapsed on him all the way back at the 31. So of course he ran toward the sideline, tiptoed to stay in bounds, faked cutting back inside to avoid a defender and then cut right back to the sideline, weaving his way all the way inside the 1-yard line to set up first-and-goal. Derrick Henry scored one play later and the Ravens rallied for a 35-34 win.
Photo Credits: Shawn Hubbard/Baltimore Ravens Photos and Kenya Allen/PressBox
For more Best Of, visit PressBoxOnline.com/BestOf.
Plus: Check out PressBox’s 2024 Mo Gaba Sportsperson of the Year, Lamar Jackson.
Issue 290: December 2024 / January 2025
Originally published Dec. 18, 2024