There’s no one who has seen more of Lamar Jackson these last seven years, no one who has a more complete grasp of the player he’s been and the player he could be than John Harbaugh.

And yet Jackson still finds ways to show his coach something new.

In the Ravens’ chilly 28-14 win over Pittsburgh, what stood out to Harbaugh was the quarterback’s toughness. After getting kneed in the back on a second-quarter 20-yard run, Jackson clearly labored, getting treatment on the sideline between drives. All he did after was lead three more touchdown drives, finishing his most complete, least mistake-prone playoff game ever.

“You can’t get over how physically tough he is, how mentally tough he is,” Harbaugh said Saturday night. “He’s in there, getting hit while running the ball. He takes shots, gets up and makes a play.”

With 175 yards and two passing touchdowns, another 81 yards on the ground and (most critically) no turnovers, Jackson is showing how much he’s grown when the games matter the most. It’s enough to wonder if his critics — who relentlessly dog his playoff record all year long — will be willing to change their tune.

Jackson did a brave and increasingly rare thing this week. He gave an honest account of his playoff shortcomings past. We know the critiques, that his offenses start slow in playoff games, that he turns the ball over, that he doesn’t play the same way in the postseason as in the regular season.

The cliché NFL way would be for Jackson to deny that he approaches the playoff games any differently. Instead, he told the truth.

“Yes, I’m just too excited — that’s all. Too antsy, that’s all,” Jackson said Tuesday. “I’m seeing things before it happens like, ‘Oh, I have to calm myself down.’ But, just being more experienced, I’ve found a way to balance it out.”

Such vulnerability is not always well received in the league or the media environment around it. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio was among those who leapt on Jackson’s response, while suggesting Russell Wilson — who had presided over four straight losses for an anemic offense entering the postseason — was a more trustworthy playoff quarterback.

“When he comes out and says, ‘I feel more nervous, I feel more antsy in the postseason, but I’m past that now.’ No you’re not! No you’re not!” Florio said. “Because when you go out there for the first drive of a game that is win or go home, when you’re favored by 9 1/2 points, you will feel the pressure — oh yes you will.”

If Jackson felt pressure, he did not show it.

Without leading receiver Zay Flowers, there were many questions about how the Ravens would keep the zip in their offense. Jackson started with a short pass to Isaiah Likely before reeling off five straight runs. He capped the 95-yard drive with a 15-yard pass to Rashod Bateman, threading the needle between two defenders in the back of the end zone.

As much credit as will deservedly go to Derrick Henry for a franchise-playoff-record 186 yards, Jackson’s run threat helped loosen up things for the running back. On Henry’s Wildcat run, Jackson ran in motion for a sweep fake that drew Elandon Roberts, Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott to the wrong side of the field.

On Henry’s 44-yard touchdown, Jackson faked to the left and got every defender in tackling distance on the lurch. That move allowed Henry to turn on the jets and lead a pack of Steelers defenders as if they were following him in a flying V formation like migrating geese.

The first person from the Ravens that Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin mentioned was not Henry.

“The X factor was Lamar’s unique talents,” Tomlin said. “It seems like every time we got him behind the sticks, he made up for it, or we got him in a possession down circumstance and he extended and won those circumstances”

Jackson seems to have mastered the balance of when to run and when to pass, and he’s as good as he’s ever been at both — something you’d recognize from his 41-touchdown, four-interception season if you were paying attention.

Jackson also acknowledged his effort to tamp down the excitement that has gotten him off to slow starts in playoffs past.

“I’m not gonna lie; I was eager throughout the whole week,” he said. “But, when the day came, I was just cool throughout the day. I didn’t get on the phone; I didn’t want to talk. My mama called, and I said I didn’t want to talk. No disrespect, never disrespect. I’m just ready for the game.”

We know good things happen when Jackson talks to his mom. Apparently good things happen when he avoids talking to her on game day as well.

And this is the point. Aside from just the rarest, luckiest few, many quarterbacks take time to learn how to win in the postseason. Peyton Manning and Drew Brees didn’t win until they were 30. As many trend watchers have noticed, Joe Flacco won the Super Bowl with the Ravens when he was 28 — the same age Jackson is now.

As Jackson was putting together arguably his best regular season ever, worthy of a third MVP award, national pundits often continued to hold his 2-4 playoff record over his head, even though he has been unable to change that record since last January. With his latest performance, which is also his best, that crowd must acknowledge that Jackson is trending in the right direction.

There’s more work ahead, but by getting better in every postseason he’s played, Jackson is showing his unflattering playoff record might be more about his evolving maturity than a label to be slapped on his back forever.

This isn’t new to teammates who have talked about Jackson’s “tunnel vision” for much of the season. When Jackson led a 90-yard touchdown drive using just 1:51 before halftime, Isaiah Likely said he was hardly surprised. At this point, he’s counting on Jackson to lift the team up in these moments. Others should well take heed.

“I see Lamar on a mission,” Likely said. “I tell you all the time, his focus is sharp and that’s what he preaches all of the time. He doesn’t care how it looks on the stat sheet. All he wants to get is a W.”