Lamar Jackson has never been one to take losses lightly—even ones dating back to his youth football days still stick with him. So it came as no surprise when the Baltimore Ravens quarterback admitted he’s still not over the team’s 27-25 divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills that ended their 2024 playoff run.
Speaking to Baltimore reporters for the first time since the season ended, Jackson made it clear the sting still lingers.
“I don’t think I get over any loss, to be honest,” Jackson said. “I’ve got losses from youth football that still haunt me. I never get over losses. I don’t care how small it may be to someone else or how great it may be, it’s always the same to me.”
This one may haunt him more than most. Jackson’s own mistakes—an overthrown interception to Taylor Rapp and a lost fumble deep in Buffalo territory on consecutive possessions—played a key role in the loss. The Bills capitalized on the fumble with a touchdown that ultimately decided the game.
To his credit, Jackson nearly engineered a comeback, throwing a late touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely to bring the Ravens within two points. He followed that up with a spot-on throw on the two-point conversion attempt, but tight end Mark Andrews dropped the pass that would have tied the game.
Still frustrated by how things ended, Jackson says the team is focused and motivated going into 2025.
“We still had a chance to win,” he said. “It’s football, not everything going to go our way. Before it was like, ‘Oh, you can’t win a playoff game.’ Then, we won a playoff game, got to the AFC Championship two years ago, and we just fell short, like two games short this year. We’re going to bounce back. We’ll come back and I feel like we’re gonna have vengeance on our mind.”
Jackson isn’t the only one out for redemption. Linebacker Roquan Smith echoed that same mentality earlier this offseason.
“Yeah, just how I like it,” Smith said during Schedule Release ’25. “Revenge is best served as a cold dish, you know. So, it will be nice to get up to Buffalo and get a little payback for those guys from the end of the year.”
Fortunately for the Ravens, they won’t have to wait long to settle the score. They open the season on the road in a high-stakes Week 1 clash on Sunday Night Football—a rematch with the Bills that promises to be personal.