AFC Game Of The Week
Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens
Chiefs: They are never out of a game. As I’m watching their opener against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, I know they got behind early, but to be honest with you, I was never worried about it. If you want to beat them, do what you can to keep them down, plain and simple. Here’s the facts for you. They are still atop the mountain in the AFC. If you want to get anywhere in this conference, dethroning the Chiefs and going through Arrowhead is what you must do. Are you ready for another fact? Since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs are undefeated in the month of September and Mahomes has never thrown an interception in those games played in September. That’s unbelievable. I will say there’s some slight concern with their offense. I understand the core is still intact. From a receiver’s perspective, it appears they only have two reliable offensive weapons and that’s Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. Mecole Hardman is their primary slot presence but can slide outside to the perimeter if Cheetah ever gets hurt. If you look at it, they don’t really have another receiver that can create or even a possession guy on the other side. I’m still not crazy about the Kansas City defense, but they have time to figure it out and improve. On Sunday night, they will make their first road trip on the year.
Ravens: They dropped the ball in week one. There were some moments when Lamar Jackson looked strong, but it doesn’t help his case when he’s fumbling the football and turning the ball over and that happened twice on Monday night in Las Vegas. Those Baltimore turnovers gave the Raiders brand new life. One of those two fumbles was worse than the other because he was trying to do too much to extend the play. Doing too much can come back to hurt you and look what happened. I want to discuss Lamar Jackson for a minute if I can. I feel he’s misunderstood as a quarterback because the knock on him is he depends on his running too much and he’s never wanting to establish himself in the pocket. When I watch him, I see a guy who’s looking to make his reads then the play breaks down and he’s off and running. He completed 19 of his 30 pass attempts with 235 yards and a touchdown pass. On the running side, he ran more than ten times, and I wasn’t a fan of that. For most of the game, the Ravens defense was doing what they do best. Applying pressure and making their presence felt. Down the stretch was when they missed Marcus Peters who’s out for the year with a torn ACL. They return home for a big game in week two.
Chiefs X-Factor: Demarcus Robinson– As I said up top, it can’t just be Tyreek and Travis. They need some of the other receivers to step it up. In the past, I’ve seen Patrick connect with Robinson quite a bit. Demarcus is more than capable of making a big catch when the offense needs it. He has the potential to emerge as the number two wide receiver on this Chiefs depth chart.
Ravens X-Factor: Ty’Son Williams– There’s no way your starting quarterback should’ve been your leading rusher. Also, all our running backs are injured isn’t a legit excuse either. I know he had only nine carries for 65 yards and a touchdown, but when he got his carries, he did something with the ball. The kid averaged seven yards a carry. Don’t put so much pressure on Lamar. Establish Williams early on.
Final Thoughts: This is the fourth consecutive year these two teams are meeting. When they met last year, the Chiefs destroyed the Ravens, and it was never close. I’m glad the NFL continues to give us this matchup between these two young quarterbacks. This also features two of the best head coaches in the business in Andy Reid and John Harbaugh. The Ravens struggled trying to defend Darren Waller on Monday night. It won’t get easier with Kelce coming to town. I need to see the Chiefs get off to a quick start. Getting behind early and attempting to climb back into the game won’t always work for them. Baltimore must control the clock. Play keep away from Mahomes and that Chiefs offense. Also, take some shots down the field. The Browns did it so I know Baltimore can do it. I still don’t trust the Chiefs defense. I think we see a closely contested game compared to last year.
Prediction: Chiefs 35 Ravens 27
