Week Two Pre-cap Re-cap: Chiefs @ Ravens

Happy Tuesday morning ArrowheadOne and Chiefs Kingdom!! Welcome back to my second edition of Pre-cap Re-cap where I look into my crystal ball and review the game we are getting ready to play. Just like last week, I’m writing this before any of the Sunday slate of games start. However, this time I need to start by reviewing my performance from last week. Here is what I predicted:

  1. The O line showed up huge giving Mahomes ample time, and not allowing any egregious sacks.
  2. PM15 and the offense stayed hot with Clyde and Mecole both going off.
  3. Our D looked great, and Baker looked bad.

Where Josh Was Right

The biggest prediction was a win and I nailed it. I was on point with the offensive line pass protection. There were ultimately 2 sacks and 6 QB hits on Mahomes. However, Patrick enjoyed what I considered to be pretty clean pocket. Holding an edge duo of Garrett and Clowney to 1 sack was brilliant. I was also right about the offense keeping the scoring going. Mahomes threw for 337 and 3/0, and 273 of the yards and all TD went to Tyreek and Kelce. This unfortunately means…

Where Josh Was Wrong

There is no other way to put it: I was completely wrong on the how. I will be the first to admit there was a vibe of wishing thinking, but I called for CEH over 100 rushing yds and Mecole over 150 receiving yds. The team answered me with a “no” and resounding “hell no” to those predictions, which was unfortunate. At this point the Chiefs are no closer to having a #2 receiver and running game balance than they were in the offseason. The good news is that the weapons who did perform did it on an elite level, and the 1-0 record is the only real number anyway.

Where I went more wrong was calling for the D to play great and make Baker look bad. Baker looked great, the Browns run game looked stout, and the Chiefs beat a really good team. Possibly the second best team in the AFC. I don’t think this is the last we have seen of the Browns. BTW our D is a total disaster that needs to be fixed. Allowing 450 yards and winning close is playing with fire as Chris Thomas from Arrowhead Kingdom so eloquently explains here:

There were a lot of opinions last year as to what it meant that the Chiefs were winning so many close games (7 points or less), despite winning all of them. Were the Chiefs sleepwalking through the regular season? Are the Chiefs not as good as their record? Is it because everyone sends their best shot when facing the champs? If Week 1 was an omen of what is to come in 2021, we may see a lot more games decided within 7 points again this year.

However, he does say to enjoy the wins and only look forward, and I agree with that.

On to the Ravens Recap

The stakes were high and astronomical for the Chiefs and Ravens respectively. The Chiefs are chasing another Super Bowl berth, and starting fast to keep ownership of the AFC West is an important part of that. The Ravens came into the game looking to avoid going to the dreaded 0-2. Only 30 teams have started 0-2 and made the playoffs since 1990. The Ravens dug an early hole losing to the Raiders in Vegas Week 1, and probably wanted nothing to do with hosting the defending AFC Champs in week 2. This was their problem to solve, and no one was handing them a tear towel.

Sunday Night, Prime Time Football will be a decent game but ends with the Chiefs 2-0 leading the West and the Ravens reeling at 0-2. Baltimore moves into week 3 prep looking to join that exclusive group of 30, and the Chiefs are marching as usual. Mahomes is 4-0 vs Lamar and it is not getting closer. Here’s how it went down.

More of the Usual

The game plan was simple: act like we want a run game, abandon it quickly, and throw the ball to Kelce and Hill. It ain’t broke, the team ain’t changing, and we as fans need to quit calling for it. CEH had another 80 yard day, and as usual it was split pretty evenly between catching passes and running. Hardman had a couple of catches for 30 yards, and D Rob did better than this for 3 catches and 50 yards. Kelce had the huge game with 2 TD and 150 yards receiving. This further cements him as the best in the biz. For the record this cement is quickly becoming the kind you find in a foundation of a circa 1900 Midwest build. I pity the  fool who has to break it apart to expand the garage. This is turning into more of a passing league every day, but I feel for future TE that will be compared to this forever.

More Takeaways

Our D is not good, but they are opportunistic. We took the ball away from the Browns a couple times, which is a big reason for winning week 1. Another one was having Patrick Mahomes. The Ravens came into this game both without Patrick Mahomes, and also having given the ball away twice in week 1. The Chiefs D gave up another 400 yards with almost 200 coming on the ground, but they also picked Lamar and forced 2 more fumbles. Being opportunistic has its benefits, and one of them is beating the Ravens.

Is That Dave Toub’s Music?

The special teams were another big story here. Butker made his presence known with 54 and 51 yard FGs, but the real fireworks came from the return game. Hardman broke the game open the first series of the 2nd half retuning a punt 90 yards. I would still prefer to see his production come as a #2 receiver, but if this is what we get, then so be it.

Well, that will do it for this week. It feels great to be 2-0, and I can’t wait to come back next week and try to do better.

GO CHIEFS!!

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Josh Kingsley — ArrowheadOne

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