Chiefs Whip Goliath in OT, 27-24

 

 

 

Chiefs Whip Goliath in OT, 27-24

 

by Laddie Morse | December 10, 2018

 

The 2018 Kansas City Chiefs are a special team. They can win the big shootouts and they can win the close ones too. On Sunday they faced a big tough Goliath of a team in the Baltimore Ravens, who pushed them to overtime then the Chiefs won it on a field goal but had to rely on their defense to make a stop to get the game to its final conclusion and guess what, the defense did just that. Many have complained about this defense and rightfully so but in tight moments they have come through. A strip sack and recovered fumble gave the Chiefs a chance to win it in regulation but Harrison Butker missed to the right because of an off-target snap. In the end, the Chiefs whip Goliath in OT, 27-24.

 

It’s hard to believe that the Chiefs won the time of possession battle by 37:00 to 31:27 because the Ravens held the ball what seems like forever on so many drives, led a good part of the game and out-rushed the Chiefs 198 to 94. There was never a time in this game that you thought the Chiefs had the outcome under control until the last play.

 

In his post game comments, HC Andy Reid said that, aside from the interception, he felt this was QB Patrick Mahomes best game. Mahomes was 35 of 53 for 377 passing yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT. That comment surprised me because Baltimore’s rookie QB came out with a higher QBR than Mahomes: 69.0 to 62.9 and while Lamar Jackson’s impact was mostly on the ground, there were many times when it appeared that the Chiefs defense had no answer for him.

 

What We May Have Learned

This team can win: on the road and at home… in games that are won in the trenches… in aerial shootouts… they can win with their offense… they can win with their defense… in close games… and they can blow other teams out. More than anything, this was a “heart” game. Listen as Chiefs OLB Justin Houston describes one of the last plays of regulation time when he made a play that made all he difference:

 

 

 

 

Houston also made one of the last plays of overtime by tackling the Ravens QB Lamar jackson and knocking him out of the game. His reference to “Zeus” meant he was talking about Eric Berry. It will be a wonderful sight to see Berry take the field in red and gold this Thursday evening vs the Chargers. He made a difference in this game against the Ravens… and he wasn’t even on the field.

 

Game Review and Dynamics

 

 

The First Half

Although the Ravens won the coin toss at the beginning of the game it didn’t seem to matter. The Chiefs punted on their first possession and so did the Ravens. RB Damien WIlliams had 8 rushing attempts in this game and scored the Chiefs first TD on the ground on a 1-yards run as the culmination of a 10 play drive.

Chiefs 7, Ravens 0.

 

The Ravens followed that up with an 8 play drive and scored a TD on a 3-yard run by RB Kenneth Dixon.

Chiefs 7, Ravens 7.

 

The Chiefs then drove for 8 plays and Harrison Butker missed a 42 yard field goal.

 

The Ravens then went on a 10 play drive of their own resulting in a Field Goal by Justin Tucker.

Chiefs 7, Ravens 10.

 

In a drive that began with an 18 yard pass to Tyreek Hill and ended with a 15 TD pass from patrick Mahomes to TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs scored on a 9 play drive that only took 2 minutes and 14 seconds.

Chiefs 14, Ravens 10.

 

After the Chiefs defense forced a 3-and-out, the offense drove 51 yards and Harrison Butker kicked a FIeld Goal for 3 points as time expired in the first half.

Chiefs 17, Ravens 10.

 

The Second Half

The Ravens had the ball first to open the second half and went 6-and-out.

 

The Chiefs took over but Patrick Mahomes threw a interception on the 3rd play of the drive and the Ravens took over at the their own 42. They were called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play which pushed them back to the 42.

 

14 plays later the Ravens scored a TD on a pas from Lamar Jackson to Maxx Williams on a crossing pattern. It looked a little like a pick-play but Andy Reid uses these plays all the time so no one is going to complain.

Chiefs 17, Ravens 17.

 

The Chiefs then went 13 plays and punted. The Ravens went 7 plays and punted. Then the Chiefs went 3-and-out and punted again but then… Punt Returner Cyrus Jones returned it to the KC 14 yard line where the Ravens scored on 3 plays, Extra point good.

Chiefs 17, Ravens 24.

 

4:04 is left in the 4th Quarter.

 

Patrick Mahomes used 3 minutes and 11 seconds to drive for 11 plays while starting out with three running plays by Spencer Ware ending in a TD. On the touchdown, Mahomes hits RB Damien Williams — on a bit of a pick play (see, Andy does use those too) — in the flat and he scoots into the end zone for 6. The Extra Point was good.

Chiefs 24, Ravens 24.

 

The Raven’s QB Lamar Jackson then hits a short pass from the 25, and throws and incomplete and the Ravens call Time Out. The ensuing play results in the Chiefs Justin Houston strip-sacking Jackson forcing a fumble… and recovering it at the Ravens 23 yard line.

 

The Chiefs PK Harrison Butker then missed a field goal attempt from 43 yards out as time expired and the teams took it to Over Time.

 

OVER TIME

 

The Chiefs won the toss and elected to receive. They went on an 11 play drive and Harrison Butker hit on a 35 yard Field Goal.

Chiefs 27, Ravens 24.

 

The Ravens took the ball out at the 25 and drove for nine plays. On the 7th play Justin Houston tackled Lamar Jackson in the backfield and Jackson hurt his ankle so… Robert Griffin the 3rd came in to relieve Jackson. After incomplete passes on 3rd and 4th downs, the Chiefs were winners of their 11th game of the year against 2 losses.

FINAL: Chiefs 27, Ravens 24

 

Gamers and the Lamers

QB Patrick Mahomes continued to display his superior abilities in this game: The No Look Pass

 

 

 

 

Patrick Mahomes throws some incredible passes like the one he squeezed in to RB Damien Williams along tg the sidelines:

 

 

 

 

 

Cam Erving went down with a knee injury and was out the rest of the game. It’s unknown yet what the nature of his injury is.

 

Tyreek Hill is a Lamer and a Gamer: he caught 8 passes on Sunday fo 139 yards giving him, 1,258 yards for the season. His heel and wrist were hurt in the game but he came back and made some big catches late… so we can assume he’ll be fine for Thursday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RB Spencer Ware hurt his shoulder but we don’t know how serious it is yet.

 

 

 

 

 

DL Chris Jones picked up a sack in this game giving him 9 straight games with a sack (11.5 for the season), which is a franchise record. In fact, only 6 other players have ever done that in NFL history.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Penalties Rule the Game

There were 18 penalties called in this game. The TV announcers were commenting how it seemed like about half of the plays in the game were penalties and Tony Romo said the NFL had to do something about that. Whether or not they do remains to be seen. At least in this game, the Chiefs were only called for 7 penalties while the Ravens were called for 11. While Baltimore took 112 yards in losses, K.C. took 53.

 

What’s your take on the game?