Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are a perfect 9-0 to start the 2024 NFL season, but former head coach Bill Belichick still thinks Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the clear-cut MVP.
The two teams met in last year’s AFC Championship game and are on a collision course to face each other again in this year’s playoffs. The Chiefs also narrowly defeated the Ravens 27-20 on opening day after Isaiah Likely’s potential game-tying touchdown was deemed inches out of bounds.
Despite the loss, the Baltimore tight end sent a warning to Kansas City following the defeat: “If this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason.”
Belichick expanded on his Jackson MVP take and the Ravens’ strength as a whole in an episode of ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’
“I think the Ravens are really good. I dont think theyve lost a game this year,” Belichick said of the Ravens. Baltimore climbed to 7-3 following their 35-34 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday.
“The games theyve lost, I think they can kind of gave them away,” Belichick continued. “They lost them more than somebody else won. I think the biggest opponent for the Ravens is the Ravens.”
He then backed Jackson as the league’s best. “Theyre very tough to stop and Lamar is playing great. He is the first half of the season MVP,” the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach said.
Jackson completed 25 of his 33 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the win. He is the slight betting favorite for league MVP ahead of Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
On the season, Jackson has completed a career-best 69.1 percent of his passes for 2,689 yards to go along with a sparking 24-2 touchdown-interception ratio. He’s added a further 538 yards on the ground.
The Ravens have mostly been held back by a poor secondary. The unit allowed Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase to gash them for 264 yards and three touchdowns on Thursday.
Mahomes has been far from his best this season – the former MVP is on pace for career lows in both passing yards and touchdowns. Still, he has his Chiefs team undefeated.
Likely was bemused how his potential game-tying touchdown against Mahomes’s squad on opening day was ruled out. “The ref looked at me, I look at the ref, and when he signaled touchdown, I thought it was what it was,” he said. “Then, obviously, we were going to win the game.”
“At this point, you just have to live with the call… I’d say this is probably the worst game we’re going to play all year, so if this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason,”