BALTIMORE — Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs once again showed their championship credentials on Sunday, defeating the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC Championship Game.
Reid, Patrick Mahomes and company are headed to their fourth Super Bowl in six seasons, and it’s not because of their prolific offense or jaw-dropping fireworks. No, they punched their ticket to Las Vegas because Reid and his staff won the chess game against John Harbaugh and his Ravens assistants and got their team this burgeoning The toughest win in dynasty history.
The Chiefs have long been known for lighting up the scoreboard with Mahomes’ dazzling heroics, but they didn’t even score in the second half on Sunday. Instead, they drew heavily on experience and relied on Kansas City’s most dominant defense of the past six seasons. This defense’s performance went a long way in stymying NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and one of the league’s most potent offensive offenses heading into the 2023 season.
But overall, the Ravens found themselves in a losing position after succumbing to early pressure and failing to overcome critical errors late on.
Well aware of the Ravens’ structure and how they like to run the offense (with a strong running game to ensure balance and pave the way for an improved passing attack), the Chiefs understand the importance of getting off to a fast start. They put pressure on Baltimore early, forcing a quick three-and-out, and then produced one of the most impressive offensive performances of the playoffs: 10 carries, 86 yards scoring, 19 yards passing from Mahomes capped. Travis Kelce. At this point, the Chiefs extended their record of scoring a touchdown in eight consecutive playoff games to the playoffs.
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The Ravens responded with touchdowns of their own – a great escapade by Jackson and a 30-yard field goal by Zay Flowers. But the Chiefs struck back quickly with a methodical 16-play, 75-yard drive that took up 9:02 of the clock.
Mahomes didn’t miss a beat either, completing 11 pass plays early in the game. Kelce is as hard to guard as ever. The Chiefs defense went from serviceable to dominant this season, applying constant pressure and finishing with a sack and recovery at the Baltimore 33-yard line.
Just like that, the Ravens found themselves on high alert.
Punts, touchdowns, and fumbles were not the tone Baltimore wanted early in the first half. The Ravens defense has scored just two opening touchdowns in its past 26 games, and before Kelce’s catch, Baltimore’s second-year star safety Kyle Hamilton had never thrown a pass to a tight end as a pro. passing touchdown.
The score may have read 14-7 on the scoreboard, but the margin felt even wider as Baltimore found itself in unfamiliar territory. That’s when the Ravens committed their fatal sin.
The Chiefs’ easy scoring performance left them overwhelmed and in a panic. Defensively, they lost their composure at one point and committed a fatal personal foul. Offensively, they believe they’ve fallen into a much bigger hole than they actually are. As a result, they abandon their bread and butter and try to adapt to a style of play for which they are not suited.
After dominating the field all season, the Ravens opted to run a pass-heavy offense too early.
The Ravens ran just two plays (one on an unscheduled play by Jackson) the rest of the second quarter. They only ran the ball seven more times the rest of the way. The league’s leading rushing team — a team that averaged 156.5 yards per game and boasted the most balanced offense in the NFL — became one-dimensional, finishing with just 81 yards and never again scoring in a game. To regain control in a very winnable game.
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At halftime, the Ravens trailed only 17-7. However, they showed the same frenetic feel and attack in the second half as if they were trailing by a much wider margin. Even though their defense kept them in the game and the Chiefs off the scoreboard, they continued to shoot.
“I would say it was a game,” Harbaugh said of a season-low 16 rushing attempts. “That’s how it turned out.”
The lack of a running game meant Baltimore’s offense never regained the rhythm it had often seen this season. The lack of balance takes pressure off the Chiefs defense because it allows Kansas City’s passers to stick their ears right behind Jackson. Meanwhile, when the quarterback isn’t getting hits, the Ravens suddenly have a familiar problem — a lack of consistency in the receiving department.
Time and time again, Jackson dropped back to throw, but struggled to find open receivers. With the exception of Flowers, who finished the game with five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown, Baltimore’s receivers struggled to gain any separation. Running back Justice Hill was the second-leading receiver with four catches, and Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t get involved until the fourth quarter (3 catch, 22 yards).
“We could have run the ball,” Jackson said. “But we were just downfield and just trying to get the ball downfield. You’ve got to make things happen.”
Zay Flowers had a touchdown catch on Sunday but also had a costly fumble. (Jeff Burke/USA Today)
Even if it’s one-dimensional, the Ravens do have a chance. They started the fourth quarter on a 78-yard drive in five plays to reach the shadow of the Kansas City goal line, highlighted by Flowers’ 54-yard pass. But the possession ended painfully with a fumble, when Kansas City’s L’Jarius Sneed knocked the ball away from Flowers and the receiver picked it up 8 yards out. Rushing behind the ball toward the end zone.
On the next possession inside the Kansas City 25, Jackson intercepted a triple screen while trying to connect with tight end Isaiah Likely.
Justin Tucker’s 43-yard touchdown field goal with 2:38 left in the game reduced the deficit to a touchdown, but the Ravens never got closer.
The Chiefs didn’t score in the second half, but they didn’t really have to. They did enough on offense to form their dominant defense and spend precious minutes at all hours of the day and night: five minutes here, two minutes there, another four minutes there. At the end of the game, they won the time of possession battle 37:30 to 22:30.
The defeat meant the Ravens missed a chance, although the game was never as close as the score suggested. Jackson and his teammates lamented that they only managed one touchdown and that they would repeat costly mistakes in the offseason. We inevitably wonder if a more patient approach would serve the Ravens better while helping them find a better offensive flow throughout the game.
“You might use the phrase ‘I’d love to relive this or relive this game,’ but you can’t relive these games,” right tackle Morgan Moses said. “You’ve got to learn from them and move forward. You know, it’s not over yet. Anytime you have a quarterback like Lamar, you have a chance to be in a game like this again.”
However, this will sting for a while, especially because of its ending.
The 2023 season is a year of change and growth for Baltimore, and maybe the Ravens can build on that. But on Sunday, when they were aiming for the ultimate goal, when the pressure was at its highest, they strayed from their identity and never recovered.
(Top photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)
