The ten-point halftime lead holds up as mistakes and undisciplined play doom the Ravens despite throwing a second-half shutout.
Sunday, January 28, 2024, M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE – The workmanlike, mistake-free Kansas City Chiefs captured the Lamar Hunt Trophy – named for their original owner – with a pulsating 17-10 win over the host and top-seeded Baltimore Ravens before 71,439 soaked, exhausted, disappointed fans.
The Chiefs will now move on to be the designated home team for Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on February 11 at 6:30 p.m. It will be KC’s fourth trip to the big game in the last five years, giving them a chance to be the first NFL team in 19 years to be a repeat champion.
To get there, the Chiefs relied on their stars–quarterback Patrick Mahomes (30-for-39, 241 yards, touchdown, two sacks, 100.5 rating) and tight end Travis Kelce (11 targets, 11 catches, 216 yards, touchdown)–and arguably the best Chiefs’ defense in the Mahomes era. That D held Baltimore’s best-in-league rushing corps to 81 rushing yards, limited the offense to 3-for-11 on third downs, capped Baltimore’s time-of-possession to 22 minutes, and forced three turnovers.
The loss kept the Ravens from adding a big chapter to the franchise’s short but extraordinarily successful history. The game marked their fifth lifetime AFC title game appearance, and a win would have designated Baltimore as the designated home team. It was something that Baltimore’s rabid fan base had longed for, including witnessing history being made in the team’s home stadium. The Ravens have played a staggering 21 of its 30-lifetime playoff games away from M&T Bank Stadium.
But history won’t be written as those fans had anticipated, even though the Ravens had posted a league-best 13-4 record this year and had closed the regular season by winning 11 of its last 13 games, with winning streaks of four and six games in the process.
At the very least, fans knew that Sunday’s game would match up two former Most Valuable Player quarterbacks, both under 30 years of age, Kansas City’s Mahomes and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. The Ravens and Chiefs were also the league’s top two teams in scoring defense this year and the league’s best tandem in points scored since the time Mahomes and Jackson became their teams’ starting quarterbacks. The teams were also 1-2 in sacks by their defenses this year (Ravens 60, Chiefs 57) and were the two best in overall win percentage over the last six years.
Kansas City came into Sunday’s game with just five road false starts in 2023, the league’s third-fewest, but the team quieted the Ravens’ loud crowd right from the start with an exhibition of ball control and diverse play-calling. On defense, the Chiefs limited Jackson’s effectiveness by blitzing him constantly, shutting off running lanes, and infusing the pass pocket with constant pressure. The results? KC’s D forced Jackson to run and/or get rid of the ball before he wanted to. The strategy added up to a complete game by the Chiefs on both sides of the ball. Jackson has held to 20 completions in 37 throws for 272 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and a 75.5 rating. The Chiefs sacked him four times and forced a fumble.
Early on, KC’s prowess showed on a fourth-and-2 when Mahomes found Kelce for seven yards for a first down in Ravens territory. The Ravens were then called for defensive holding on a deep pass, advancing the visitors even further than Houston had gotten all last week in the Divisional game, the Ravens’ red zone. On the next play, Kelce got in position in the end zone–becoming the first tight end to score on safety Kyle Hamilton–and gathered in a 19-yard touchdown to put the Chiefs on the board first, notching a score on the opening drive in their eighth straight playoff game. It was also Kelce’s sixth conference title game score, the most in league history.
Conversely, the Ravens had allowed opening-drive scores in just two of their last 26 games, but the Chiefs had driven 86 yards in ten plays while taking 5:45 off the clock to take an early lead. That put the Ravens in chase-the-game mode early, and Jackson did just that by converting a gutsy fourth-and-one call in his own territory for a 21-yard gain, which seemed to spark the home team. A 16-yard Gus Edwards run then set up Jackson’s scramble and subsequent 30-yard game-tying touchdown pass to Zay Flowers to truly join the battle with only ten minutes having elapsed.
But Mahomes, despite not having left guard Joe Thuney or wideout Kadarius Toney available due to injuries, stayed calm and completed his first ten passes of the game – a streak that would reach a career-high 11 at the start of a game – including a third-down conversion in Baltimore territory as the first quarter expired. The quarter saw the Chiefs hold the ball for ten minutes and get nine first downs to the Ravens’ three, outgaining the hosts 124-78.
It seemed as if the Ravens had the Chiefs stopped on third-and-5, but Mahomes put on a scramble clinic of his own and found a diving Kelce at the Ravens’ 17 for a conversion. That set up Isaiah Pacheco’s two-yard score, which capped off an outstanding nine-minute, 16-play, 75-yard drive that gave the Chiefs a 14-7 lead. It was the third-longest drive (by time) in Mahomes’ career. Pacheco, who scored only the seventh rushing touchdown against the Ravens all year, had been questionable to play due to toe and ankle injuries. Still, he was a big part of the Chiefs’ early ball-control dominance, as Mahomes completed 15 of his first 17 passes, and the Ravens only held the ball for four of the game’s first 19 minutes of clock time.
The Ravens wouldn’t hold the ball much longer, and what seemed like a calamitous disaster would soon strike. Jackson was victimized on a strip-sack that was pounced upon by Chiefs linebacker George Karlaftis at the Ravens’ 33. It was a bad omen, as all the winning quarterbacks in this year’s playoffs thus far had not turned the ball over even once.
But Baltimore dodged a huge bullet when the Chiefs went for it on fourth-and-1 inside the Ravens’ 15, and Hamilton stuffed Pacheco’s short run. The opportunity was set up by Kelce’s seventh catch of the half, giving him an NFL-record 152 postseason catches, breaking Jerry Rice’s long-standing mark. The turnaround was short-lived, though, as the Chiefs’ defense came up big again. This time standout lineman Chris Jones batted down two straight Jackson passes to end a Ravens’ possession and extend his team’s league-leading total in that department.
The Chiefs then put on a late-first-half drive in which they penetrated the Ravens’ half of the field again, thanks partly to Kelce’s 21-yard catch and two 15-yard penalties on Baltimore. But Kansas City was flagged for holding twice, and those fouls temporarily torpedoed its chance to extend the lead. However, another Kelce catch – he had nine for 96 yards before halftime – set up kicker Harrison Butker’s 52-yard field goal that made it 17-7, Chiefs at the break.
That score put an exclamation point on KC’s utterly dominant half that saw them run 28 of 43 plays in Baltimore territory while holding the ball for over 20 of 30 minutes and out-gaining their hosts, 221-110, with 16 first downs to the Ravens’ five.
After the halftime break, the game fell into sleep mode for most of the third quarter before Flowers got open behind the Chiefs’ defense for a large gain towards the end of the third quarter. But the 54-yard gain turned into a 39-yarder due to a taunting penalty. Flowers then made up for that mistake by getting a first down at the Kansas City 11, but that positive was wiped out by another even larger negative. L’Jarius Sneed stripped Flowers of the ball just short of the goal line, and the play resulted in a touchback with no points scored.
That play accentuated a mind-boggling stat. Kansas City had a minus-11 turnover ratio this year, yet has won 13 straight games when losing the turnover battle. On the other hand, Baltimore had posted the NFL’s best mark this year at plus-12. But on this day, shoes were worn on different feet.
Still, the Ravens had plenty of chances. A Chiefs punt was downed at the Baltimore 1, and the Ravens were forced to go for it on fourth-and-3 from their own 18; it was then that Odell Beckham Jr. made his first catch of the day to pick up a first down. Nelson Agholor then gathered in a 39-yard toss to the Chiefs’ 25, but a toss to a triple-covered Isaiah Likely in the end zone was picked off by Deon Bush, the Ravens’ second end-zone giveaway and third of the game.
The deficit was still only ten points (the same as it had been at the close of the first half) because the Ravens’ D had figured out how to stop Mahomes, Kelce, and company. But only 6:45 remained in the game at that point, and Baltimore knew that it had to cash in on two drives to come away with a win.
Justin Tucker booted a 43-yard field goal with 2:43 on the clock to make it 17-10, but two more Ravens mistakes – a too-many-men penalty and unsportsmanlike conduct – allowed the Chiefs to control the ball the rest of the way, partially thanks to a gutsy call on 3rd-and-9 with a terrific pass-catch of 32-yards from Mahomes to Marques Valdez-Scantling.
That sequence summed up the game. The Chiefs had the game plan, experience, and execution to win another big game, while the Ravens didn’t have two of the three (game plan and execution) and lost. In the end, Ravens fans saw a dynasty in action, of the ilk and with the ingredients of NFL dynasties of the past. It just wasn’t their team.
The greatness quest continues for the Ravens, just as it does for the Bills, teams in waiting that KC vanquished on its way to Super Bowl 58.
