Categories: Kansas City ChiefsPaul Pulley

The Baltimore Ravens Come to Arrowhead

The Baltimore Ravens

Come to Arrowhead

by Paul Pulley | December 7, 2018

Sunday’s game, being played at 12 noon, Arrowhead time, on December 9th, is going to be interesting on several levels.

Flacco or Jackson? Maybe both.

First, who is the Ravens starting quarterback? Although QB Joe Flacco has returned to practice and he has been very limited, it seems there is a good chance he will be available (no injury report has been released yet as this is being written) and Baltimore’s head coach, John Harbaugh, hasn’t named a starting QB for the upcoming game. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harbaugh claims it will be a game time decision just to keep the Chiefs guessing.

Rookie QB Lamar Jackson is as much of a dual threat as the Chiefs will face and I think his style of play will be hard for the Chiefs defense to defend, but then every style of play is hard for this defense. Personally, I could see the Ravens starting Jackson and if the Ravens defense can keep the score close, Jackson could remain in the game, but if the Chiefs score early and often and get a sizable lead, Harbaugh could bring Flacco into the game, needing more of an aerial attack.

Chiefs Running Backs

There’s a new look to the Chiefs rushing offense. With a full week of practice, instead of a few rushed hours to prepare for a game — without former RB Kareem Hunt to carry the load — the rushing offense should look a little better than they did versus the Raiders. However, against Baltimore’s run defense, moving the ball on the ground will be a challenge.

Even though the Chiefs just signed Charcandrick West to once again play for the team, I doubt he will get any playing time after being on the team less than a week, but he could play a role in the following game against the Chargers on Thursday night.

I think we’ll see early downs of Spencer Ware and then Damien Williams on 3rd downs or passing downs when more yardage to gain is needed. I hope we get to see Darrel Williams carry the rock a few times. I have a feeling he might surprise us the way Hunt did last year, although probably not as dramatically.

The Ravens Defense

The Baltimore Ravens have the number 1 defense in the NFL. They are 2nd against the pass and 3rd against the run. On the other hand, the Ravens haven’t really faced an offense like the Chiefs can bring to a game. They did play the New Orleans Saints in week 7 and the Saints squeaked out a victory but… that game was played in Baltimore. Plus we have seen how the Saints offense seems to falter when facing tough defenses. Statistically, the Ravens defense is very similar to the Jacksonville Jaguars, especially their passing defense. The Ravens give up a few less yards and a couple fewer points/game overall, but they also create fewer turnovers.

The Ravens do a pretty good job getting after the quarterback, having logged 35 sacks so far this year. The lion’s share of sacks have come from OLBs Terrell Suggs and Za’Darius Smith with 6 ½ each and LB Matt Judon with 6 sacks. Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz will need to bring their “A” game Sunday.

The Ravens rushing defense will probably cause the Chiefs running game some problems. This could turn into a game where the Chiefs will have to rely on Patrick Mahomes arm to move the ball.

The Ravens Offense

To an average NFL defense, the Ravens offense wouldn’t be much to worry about. Long time starting quarterback, Joe Flacco, could be returning from injury. Leading rusher, Alex Collins, was placed on IR on December 1st, leaving rookie QB Lamar Jackson as the Ravens most prolific rusher with 540 yards.

In week 1 of this season, Baltimore scored 47 points at home against the Buffalo Bills. The only other game the Ravens were able to score more than 30 points was week 12, a home victory against the Oakland Raiders. Other than the Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints, Baltimore has played the Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and the only team with a worse defense than Kansas City, the Cincinnati Bengals twice. Which works out that half of the Ravens games have been against pretty bad defenses and they only won half of those games. So I believe that if the Chiefs porous D can hold the Baltimore offense to 27 points at the maximum, Kansas City will come away with a victory.

Looking Ahead

As has been noted, the first step for postseason play is to win the division. The next step is to secure a bye week and then attempt to win home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Kansas City has control of their own destiny. Win the next two games and they three-peat as AFC West Champions. After that, the crystal ball is fogged up until we see how the New England Patriots and Houston Texans fare in their next two games. The great part about where we are now, is we don’t need help to accomplish any goal, unlike the other teams that are hoping and praying for the Chiefs to lose.

Personally, I’m hoping the Chiefs win out and finish the season 14-2, something the team has never done. Three times I’ve seen the Chiefs finish the season with a record of 13-3, two of those winning home field. Once under Dicky V and twice playing Martyball. All three times ended disastrously. A record of 12-4 a couple of years ago wasn’t any better.

The worst case scenario, one more win and the Chiefs are guaranteed a playoff spot, but quite frankly, I’m expecting a whole lot more than that.

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