OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — For a second straight year, Lamar Jackson is completing the same cycle.

A spectacular season ends with an agonizing playoff loss. Then months later, Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are given a chance to avenge that defeat when they face the same opponent again in Week 1. Last year they opened at Kansas City after losing to the Chiefs in the postseason. This time it's Buffalo.

On one hand, it's an early opportunity to put the sour taste of January behind them. On the other hand, it's both too late and too early to silence the doubters.

In some ways, this weekend's game against the Bills is emblematic of Jackson's reality as he begins his eighth season. So much of his career has been spent quieting one line of criticism or another. First, there were those who won

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