(Photo Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports)

If you haven’t been paying attention, you are missing out.

Lamar Jackson’s star is ascendant and so are the Baltimore Ravens.

The second-year quarterback, acclaimed by many as a lock for the NFL’s MVP award, threw five touchdown passes and ran for 95 yards in a 45-6 dissection of the Los Angeles Rams on Monday night. He’s the first player to throw for five in his Monday night debut.

Jackson heard the chants as he left the field at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – “MVP! MVP!” – but he said they don’t mean much.

“I’m not worried about MVP,” he said. “If it comes, it comes. I’ll be satisfied, but I’m trying to win a Super Bowl. That’s a team award; that’s what I want.”

Jackson was on the field for six drives. They resulted in six touchdowns. That’s kind of hard to top.

The Ravens (9-2) have won seven in a row. They’ve beaten both teams in the last Super Bowl (the 6-5 Rams and the 10-1 New England Patriots). They lead the NFL in scoring differential (+184 points).
The key is Jackson.

He replaced Joe Flacco as the starter as a rookie last year and his talent, as well his areas of needed improvement, were on clear display. The time and work he has put in are now quite obvious.

He hasn’t thrown in an interception in six games. Over the last four he has 13 TD passes and no picks. For the season he’s thrown 24 TD passes and only five INTs.

This is a transcendent and ascendant talent. At 22, Jackson still has so much to learn that his current success is scary and his limits non-existent.

Do not miss Sunday’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers (10-1) and Ravens, no matter where you must go to see it. The future will be on display.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman