By Chris Schisler
The Baltimore Ravens obviously have a lot of good to go over from their thrilling 35-36 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Ravens’ offensive line performed like a completely different group than they did against the Raiders. Alejandro Villanueva shockingly held his own, filling in for Ronnie Stanley at left tackle. Pat Mekari did a decent job on the right and there even was a Ben Cleveland sighting.
This allowed the offense to stay on the field and have some of the most important drives of the Lamar Jackson era. The Ravens picked up 31 first downs and had 481 total yards. Jackson, Ty’son Williams, Latavius Murray and, Devonta Freeman all had positive showings on the ground. Williams even got a lucky bounce, as the ball popped up and back into safety for the touchdown.
The cool thing about it is that the Ravens did it their way in a character-defining play. 251 rushing yards and 230 passing is the Greg Roman offense working the way it was intended. Marquise Brown was a game-changer. Brown is going to have a breakout year. He looked like a game-changer. The offense lived up to the moment. They lifted the team up.
The defense did just enough and made key plays:
Odafe Oweh is the biggest bright spot defensively. Oweh forced the game-winning fumble. He got the pressure that led to the Patrick Mahomes interception. Tavon Young had a rough day but that interception was gold. Oweh was explosive off the edge and was a key component of the fourth quarter shutout.
Mahomes had 343 yards and three touchdowns. Whatever Don Martindale did, Mahomes could move the ball. Still, Tyreek Hill registered as a statistical non-factor and the defense stepped up when it absolutely needed to. Anthony Averett and De’Shon Elliot deserve some praise today.
The biggest thing here is the heart the team had. With that, the Ravens really found themselves. When Lamar Jackson zoned in and played within himself everything became possible.
The Bad
Tackling and flow to the football could have been better. Bryon Pringle and Travis Kelce both scored touchdowns where they had long runs after the catch for a touchdown. For the second week in a row, the Ravens gave up over 100 yards to a tight end. It’s going to be fun not having to deal with Darren Waller or Kelce the rest of the regular season.
The game started out with a pick-six. It really wasn’t a mistake from Jackson as Sammy Watkins slipped. That slip was costly and it was a rough start.
The scary thing is that the Ravens left some points on the field. There were a few drives that didn’t manifest into points that absolutely should have. Jackson threw a pass into triple coverage and was picked off in the second quarter. Jackson had an open receiver underneath and had no reason to throw that football. They should have picked up the first down. They should have scored at least three there. Two interceptions and some stalled drives (mostly because of iffy play-calls) could have cost the Ravens more dearly. Let’s be honest, the Ravens made too many mistakes against a team that doesn’t need any help.
The Ugly
The Ravens got hampered by the officials. This was one of the worst called games I’ve ever seen. The worst example was the phantom illegal man downfield that took away a two-point conversion. Thankfully, it didn’t cost the Ravens the game. It did seem like the officials were trying to help the Chiefs.
Martindale deserves credit for how the defense finished. His defense still gave up 28 points. The idea of not blitzing Patrick Mahomes didn’t work all that well. The defensive line wasn’t generating enough pressure. For most of this game, Mahomes had a very clean pocket to throw the football.
NEXT POST: Ravens win over the Chiefs: Processing all the emotions of the game
The comeback was a thing of beauty. The Ravens put themselves in a position where they had to do it the hard way. They got just enough stops, though this defense for the second straight week had some issues.
Good read.