Thoroughly disappointed this game won’t go down as a classic.
Discuss your thoughts on these topics from the Ravens 34-20 loss to KC on our message board.
Let me start by saying that I never expected the Ravens to go 16-0 on the year. Whether you lose to the reigning Super Bowl champs, or lose to the Cleveland Browns, it counts as one loss, all the same. 15-1 would still be a hell of a season.
But I do expect from a Ravens team with Super Bowl aspirations of their own to be competitive with their peers. The Ravens absolutely were not. A seven-point game early in the 4th quarter isn’t an accurate representation of the game that was played. Mahomes/Jackson is supposed to be the new Brady/Manning. A matchup made for prime time. It didn’t have that feel at all. Jackson didn’t have it last night passing for just 97 yards. A measly 3.5 yards per attempt. if not for his 83 yards on the ground, it was reminiscent of one of those stinker games Joe Flacco would have a couple times a year.
We watched QBs drop dimes out there across the league this week. Russ Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott, and definitely Patrick Mahomes, looked like the best versions of themselves. Lamar Jackson did not play close to their level. Team effort, he didn’t get much help, but he also just plain didn’t have it, missing the mark on a number passes, taking the short pass option quickly, and bailing out of the pocket early instead of stepping up away from the outside containment.
Mahomes read the Ravens defense like a book.
Mahomes looked like he was running 7 on 7 drills out there, but as open as some receivers were, it was more like 7 on 4. It looked like more often than not, Mahomes didn’t even need to go through progressions. He knew where he wanted to go, and creative route combinations led to wide open receivers, and he knew where to find them before the ball is even snapped.
The Ravens defense couldn’t get off the field allowing KC to convert 10 of 13 3rd downs, passing for 149 yards and 2 TDs on those downs. They went deep into the playbook to keep the Ravens guessing.
What happened to running the ball?
Mark Ingram, seven carries. Gus Edwards, four. J.K. Dobbins, one.
Four of those 12 carries came on the opening drive. Three for Ingram and Dobbins lone tote.
Second drive saw a Jackson run negated by a questionable penalty, followed by two passes and a sack. Third drive, after the Devin Duvernay kickoff returned for a score making it a 13-10 game, saw three passes and out.
Completely unacceptable. The Running backs averaged 6.25 yards per carry and only saw 12 carries. Jackson had 83 yards on nine carries which is great too, but how many of those came when he was running for his life? I hope they Ravens aren’t looking at this and thinking they ran a pretty balanced attack with 28 passes to 21 runs. Pretend Jackson doesn’t have his legs. 12 carries are far too little for the talented backfield the Ravens have.
6.25 yards per attempt on the ground, 3.5 yards per attempt through the air.
Stop saying Lamar Jackson can’t win big games!
Win as a team, lose as a team. In the Jackson era the Ravens are 21-1 in the regular season against teams not named the Kansas City Chiefs. They are 0-3 against them. Get ready to hear it all year. “They can’t win the big games”.
I disagree with this sentiment for a couple reasons. What constitutes a big game? A team that is better than you? Well, if that is the case the Ravens only get one shot at Kansas City unless the stars align in the postseason, as many would firmly put the Ravens 2nd in the AFC. Let’s not forget the Ravens were actually 3.5-point favorites last night.
Another reason I disagree, go back one year. When the Ravens went to Seattle to face the 5-1 Seahawks and then MVP front runner Russell Wilson, was that not a big game? When they hosted the 7-0 Patriots on Sunday Night Football, was that not a big game? Two weeks later they hosted 6-3 Houston with another MVP candidate, Deshaun Watson. Next week was a cross country trip for MNF against the reigning NFC champion Rams, then hosted the 10-1 49ers who would go on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, then on the road to 9-3 Buffalo… Please, spare me. The haters will then point out not winning a playoff game, but I guess first round byes don’t count. Rather play worse in the regular season so he can check the playoff win box against some lesser team on wild card weekend. Didn’t think so.
Look ahead at the Football Team
Not seeing a line for this game yet, but ESPN’s Pick Center predicts the Ravens as 13.5-point favorites. That is huge in the NFL. Call me crazy, but I think that’s fair, and I’d probably take that bet. One of the things that worried me about the Chiefs game was Kansas City getting tested the week before. Trailing an entire game, forcing overtime, pulling out a win against a far inferior team in the Chargers. The Chiefs got a wakeup call and could have dropped 34 points on the 2000 Ravens defense last night. Perhaps the Ravens just got their wakeup call and bounce back in a big way.
Washington will have a weakened defensive front as they will likely miss Chase Young who suffered a groin injury, and defense tackle Matt Ioannidis is done for the year with a torn biceps. All the more reason for the Ravens to let the running backs feast next week. Nick Chubb went for 108 yards and two scores on 19 carries against them last week.
On offense, Dwayne Haskins threw three picks last week and has played to a very low 26 QBR. The Football Team hasn’t figured out that Antonio Gibson looks like a very talented, versatile running back, and they still are trying to get Peyton Barber and his 1.7 yards per carry involved just as much. Hopefully they keep it up.
Ravens Analyst
Mike was born on the Eastern Shore, raised in Finksburg, and currently resides in Parkville. In 2009, Mike graduated from the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. Mike became a Baltimore City Fire Fighter in late 2010. Mike has appeared as a guest on Q1370, and FOX45. Now a Sr. Ravens Analyst for BSL, he can be reached at mike.randall@baltimoresportsandlife.com.