The Baltimore Ravens steamrolled the Green Bay Packers 41-24 on Saturday night at Lambeau Field to keep their AFC North title hopes alive. While running back Derrick Henry did most of the work for Baltimore, Tyler Huntley played a clean game at quarterback in place of Lamar Jackson, who missed the game due to a back injury. Jackson’s Week 18 status is uncertain for Sunday Night Football vs the Pittsburgh Steelers with the division crown on the line.
Baltimore is 2-0 in Huntley starts (with the other game being a 30-16 win over the NFC North champion Chicago Bears in Week 8), and 6-8 in Jackson starts. Jackson has been banged up for most of the season with various injuries and hasn’t had many moments of looking quite like his two-time NFL MVP self.
On Monday Night Countdown ahead of the Los Angeles Rams-Atlanta Falcons game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the ESPN crew talked about Jackson and the Ravens.
“Remember earlier this year, when we were talking about Kansas City, and you said, ‘Look, don’t get hung up on 2025 Kansas City, because the tape says they’re not that right now,'” Monday Night Countdown host Scott Van Pelt said. “Lamar’s 6-6 as a starter this season, and I know he got injured against Kansas City, and who he has been- multiple MVPs; we understand that. But who he is this year hasn’t been that guy.”
ESPN NFL analyst Marcus “Swagu” Spears didn’t want to hear any of it.
.@mspears96 isn’t happy with the notion that the Ravens would be better against the Steelers without Lamar Jackson 😳 pic.twitter.com/AIXxW0iQM2
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 29, 2025
“Okay. Hey, man,” Spears said, interrupting Van Pelt.
“I’m not saying they’re better without him,” Van Pelt clarified.
Spears proceeded to sound off about the Jackson doubters in a rant for the next two minutes.
“Listen, I’m not directing this to you or [Ryan Clark]; I know y’all; I know how y’all think about Lamar Jackson,” Spears said. “I am not going to listen to it! This team has won every season because of him! They have been in the playoffs! AFC Championship games! They’ve made runs! This has been one of the best offensive football teams the last five years in the NFL! And we got one season where the dude been beat up!”
“I don’t give a damn if you don’t like how he comes to the building!” Spears continued. “Your ass wasn’t talking about that when he was out there winning MVPs and putting the team on his back when everybody else was injured! He ain’t dropped the damn pass or called it a not a touchdown with Isaiah Likely in the football game! He didn’t fumble the damn ball against the Kansas City Chiefs when they could’ve won the football game! I ain’t listening to that! I heard people talking about this while I was out of town last week… They don’t like the way he comes to the field… I didn’t hear none of this when he was winning games consistently for the Baltimore Ravens!”
“I remember Todd Monken not running the football in the AFC Championship Game,” Spears explained. “I remember Derrick Henry just a week ago not getting a touch in the football game that they possibly could’ve won if they would’ve ran the football! But Lamar Jackson is the problem! It is crazy to me how this stuff manifests! And we hear a story now, then there’s a story written, that they don’t like how [it’s going]! I ain’t never seen John Harbaugh before this year not praise Lamar Jackson! Not talk about how great of a teammate he was!”
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to people talk about Lamar Jackson and the way he goes about football because of one bad season in Baltimore, when everything we’ve heard about him has been great coming out of Baltimore!” Spears elaborated. “Every game we’ve watched, we’ve acknowledged! You know what, he’s the reason Baltimore plays the way they play on offense. When Greg Roman didn’t want to throw the ball down the field, we asked, ‘Could Lamar Jackson be a really good passer in this league?’ They go get Todd Monken; he’s one of the best passers in this league!”
“I ain’t listening to this crap!” Spears said in his closing comments. “I almost said the S-word!”
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.