Why Ravens' Lamar Jackson has chip on shoulder after MVP season

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson became a two-time regular season Most Valuable Player this past February but indicated on Wednesday he's just now getting over the club's 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. 

"I believe that just motivated us throughout the whole offseason," Jackson said about the defeat against the eventual Super Bowl champions, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic. "People are still talking about it; us players still talk about it. It definitely left a bitter taste in our mouths just being that close. We worked so hard in getting there and didn’t do what we wanted to do, didn’t fulfill our dream. Definitely a little chip on our shoulder."

Baltimore entered last season's playoffs as the NFL's best overall team before the club held serve at home with an impressive 34-10 win over the Houston Texans in the divisional round. 

However, questions remain regarding Jackson's ability to guide the Ravens to where they want to go considering he now holds a 2-4 career playoff record. 

Jackson had never played in a conference title contest before the Ravens fell to the Chiefs at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 28. 

"I believe it hurts more losing before the Super Bowl than actually being a part of it, because we worked so hard for 17 weeks, plus the little playoff games, and we get to a game away and lose," Jackson added during his comments. "We didn’t really put any points on the board, and we were just scoring 30 points against crazy teams — great defenses. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great defense as well, but we had played the top-ranked defenses. We just have to finish." 

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Ravens second among the betting favorites at +475 odds to reach Super Bowl LIX. 

To better help Baltimore achieve that goal, Jackson slimmed down to what Zrebiec called the quarterback's lowest listed weight of a career that began back in the spring of 2018. 

"I can be more agile, be able to move more," Jackson said about dropping some weight, according to Michael Baca of the league's website. "I feel great right now."

He'll hope to be greater than ever when the games matter most this coming winter.