Trey Smith, Creed and Thuney/Allegretti were outstanding against Buffalo, probably the best they've all played. I think that's where it's won and lost. If they have a similar game and stifle Madubuike, Pierce and Jones I think we win. Even if our WRs turn back into pumpkins and the OTs bleed penalties and our DL is run all over etc etc. If we can run on them a bit and if Mahomes has time to extend, I fancy our chances. If not, it's a long day.

Agree that this is probably the single most important matchup in the game: Chiefs' IOL v. Ravens' DTs.

The Eagles got a lot of shine for their interior d-line, but the Ravens' is the best in the league. And they constructed it in large part because they knew they would need to go through the Chiefs and the best way to disrupt Mahomes is to be able to get pressure without sending blitz packages. The Ravens don't pick early enough to get dominant edges to generate pressure with four, so they instead built from the inside out and are absolutely massive on the interior.

The Ravens' gameplan will rely on Madubuike/Pierce/Jones collapsing the pocket and flushing Mahomes out of the pocket and having to make the decision to either make tough throws into a crowded/talelented secondary or else try to scramble on the best ILB duo in the NFL in Smith/Queen. But if the interior d-line can't get pressure and the Ravens can't get pressure, the blitz is as good as a death sentence against Mahomes.

QB-KC
OL- BAL (Thuney injury is the difference for me.)
RB-KC
WR- BAL (Although Rice is the best WR on the field.)
TE-KC
DL- Tie (BAL has more more overall quality but they don't have anyone all that close to Chris Jones.)
S-BAL
LB-BAL
CB-KC
Kicker-Tie (These two are the best in the league.)

I know BAL is a very popular pick but these two teams look pretty dead even to me. I'll go with the better QB.

CHIEFS 26
BAL 23
OT Thriller

So the question is which is the better team we've faced? The Eagles team we saw in the superbowl or this Ravens?

Qb= Hurts and Lamar are literally the same imo. Both can kill you running and can have good days throwing but usually that's not their strength.

Ol= Eagles easily

WR= Eagles had AJ and Smith so imo that's easily Eagles again

TE= tough one. Andrews and Dallas are the same but Likely perhaps gives Bal the edge

RB= Sanders, Scott, Gainwell etc were better imo so Eagles

DL= Eagles easily and their sack record proved it

LB= Bal easily here no debate

Secondary= both teams have good individual talent so it's possibly a tie here imo.

Coaching= may be a tie too considering the Eagles guys are now head coaches. Though granted Harbough has win a ring but he doesn't call plays.

Eagles also had the tush push which Bal doesn't do. So who's the better roster? Imo I'd say the Eagles were probably the better team and had the same number one seed, had a top defense and a QB playing at an MVP level. They had a feared run game with two number one receivers that HAD to be respected.

So we've been here before on an even bigger stage just a year ago ya'll. And I think that experience against the Eagles will be huge for us going into Sunday.

The Chiefs are walking into the bar with legit BD energy. They know they've got the most impressive D in the room. They've got that confidence in their back pocket because they've been there and done that.

The question is weather or not bmore is ready. How do they handle the pressure? Can they make the big plays in the big game? Can they drive the field for the go ahead score in the last minute?
Can they do what no one has in the playoffs and stop Mahomes?

I ****ing doubt it...

No.

Not even close.

More like greatest win for the Ravens this season.

Yes.

There’s a very colorable argument that this is the best team Mahomes has ever faced. And it’s on the road in the AFC title game. But hey, if it makes you feel better to act like that’s “not even close” to the biggest obstacle he has had short of an actual Super Bowl, then knock yourself out; I’m sure Patrick Mahomes himself isn’t big timing the Ravens.

Did you guys watch lamar film or clips? he's nowhere like hurts, hurts is more like allen, lamar is a qb who can outrun tackle angles and shifty, then he has passing angles like stafford and mahomes, This makes him much harder to defend this season then any other qb he can beat you throwing, running, and with his mind, the texans d-line are a more disciplined group then the chiefs yet he still ran for over 100.

Disagree all over the place here to the point that I’m not even sure why I’m answering, but why not.

Coaching is a tie? Harbaugh is a hall of famer and Sirianni was almost fired this year. Macdonald has a head coaching job whenever he wants it, and Monken is coming off of back-to-back championships at Georgia as the OC.

Secondary is a tie? The Ravens have one of the lowest passing YPAs in decades this year.

Hurts and Lamar are the same? I mean this is just offensive at this point. One is the 2x MVP (as many as Mahomes in fewer seasons) and the other has had one good season.

The Eagles got a bunch of hype in the media, but they weren’t a historic team by DVOA. They came out of a weak NFC and then regressed badly this year. The Ravens are far better.

Wait, why watch clips? They're both young black QBs they're the same!

That’s great and all but, WTF does it have to do with the Chiefs? Baltimore has faced KC four times already in the Mahomes era and are only 1-3 against them. What the Ravens used to do to a completely different franchise is irrelevant.

Come on. You’re on another fanbase’s message board. This type of comment is never going to go well. I’m trying to engage in good faith dialogue and still had someone wake up and downvote literally every post I made. Coming onto their board and trying to turn the conversation into what you’re doing here is going to kill the chance of any cross talk for everyone else.

Lol the fact that you tried to compare Hurts to Allen and our DL to the texans tells me all I need to know about your football knowledge. Please stop it ROFL

Young? Lamar is 27 is that still "young"? o:-)

Sure, it’s just an anecdote about how the Ravens under Harbaugh were able to pierce the veil of the last dynasty like no other team in the AFC was able to. But you’re right that the Mahomes/Lamar head to heads are more relevant. Although the relevancy of a game from 5 years ago is itself dubious. The Ravens run a completely different offense and defense than then.

The Chiefs will commit to stopping the run and Lamar won’t be able to pass well enough to win. All the rest is just noise.

Ravens fans, who apparently understand nothing, think because the Bills ran for a lot of yards that the Ravens will as well. The Chiefs let the Bills run to not give up big plays and it worked to perfection. The Chiefs will let Lamar pass, he’ll get yards but also a few turnovers, and the Chiefs will win.

The Eagles roster last year was better than the Ravens one this year imo and their record was virtually the same. In the regular season Jalen had 35 td's combined, 3700 passing and 700 rushing. This year Lamar had 31 total td's combined, 3600 passing and 800 rushing. So one could argue JALEN WAS ACTUALLY BETTER!!.

We may win, we may lose, but I seriously doubt Baltimore scores 34 points.

Dude, the Chiefs were down 24-0 against the Texans in the playoffs in the first qtr, Mahomes and the Chiefs scored 28 points in one quarter, and won 51-31.

Down against the Titans

Down in the fourth qtr in the SB against SF.

Chiefs play BETTER uphill.

Mahomes is shattering records to the point it's surreal. Almost other worldly.

Guess ya'll have to find out like everbody else, just like we did.

And what's funny is the Ravens run defense thus far has been terrible and so has their defense on 3rd down but folks don't wanna talk about it.

Hurts is more like allen then lamar, whats similar about them, they run and are black? hurts is a physical runner like allen, lamar is a shifty runner. And No I didn't compare, I simply said the texans are a more discipline d-line, did you see allen running from the chiefs d-line? the texans also had the #1 run defense.

Lazy ass, stupid retort. Do better.

I see many remarks about the Chiefs and Spags past success against Lamar and limiting what he was able to do. That's all well and good but almost all of those players are now gone. Outside of Andrews and Ricard, Lamar is working with an entirely new set of backs and a new OC with a completely new offensive scheme. Kansas City may slow him down, but this isn't the Ravens offense of past years.

Nothing dubious about it all if you are bringing up past performances against a different franchise - it is totally with merit in that limited and irrelevant discussion that you brought to the table.

The Eagles played a soft schedule last year and started off undefeated, so they seemed like a dominant team. Whereas the Ravens dropped a rainy game to the Colts early and lost to their rivals in the Steelers and so didn’t have the same hype. But that’s all that is: hype.

But a more objective metric like DVOA scores the Ravens as one of the best teams of all time and doesn’t rate the Eagles in that conversation. The Ravens played a tough schedule and dominated their opponents. That’s a better way to gauge how good a roster is than back-of-the-napkin roster “analysis.”

Look no further than the discrepancy between the Eagles offseason and their actual performance this year. People were tugging Howie Roseman off for spamming every UGA player in the draft. How did that turn out for them?

Usual script: keep the game close and let Mahomes win it at the end.

If the 4th quarter becomes a shoot out or duel the Chiefs win by 10...

That's all well and good, but lets not pretend Spags is flying blind here.

I just posted the stats. Hurts numbers last year and Lamar's this year are virtually the same. With Jalen having more TD's. Lamar is a different runner yess but both haven't put up elite passing numbers which is the point. Allen is an elite passer and a dangerous runner so one could argue that KC had a great preparation for what they'll face Sunday. Stafford and Watson tore up that Ravens defense so we'll see how Pat does.

List the QBs the Ravens faced this year.

DVOA is a useful stat, but like run differential in baseball I think it does tend to inflate how good a team is if they pile it on blowouts.

That 21 Buffalo team, and the 20 Buffalo team, had crazy-high DvOA, and historically good defenses according to DVOA. The Chiefs went through like hot knives through butter. This is also something the Chiefs have shown multiple times (49ers last year) throughout this run: putting the blowtorch to #1 defenses through a combination of game-planning and Mahomes excellence.

The Ravens are a really complete team QBed by a dynamic playmaker and coached by smart staffs. Going to take a great and complete effort from KC this time to advance.

I think the winner of this one cruises in the SB, especially if the Lions manage to keep the wave rolling.

That’s the beauty of this: we will find out! Either a) that Mahomes is infallible even against the most trying circumstances, or b) that the Ravens aren’t the Titans, Texans, or whichever other franchise you’re mentioning that is several tiers below the Ravens. Looking forward to it.

And in any event, Baltimore has the highest DVOA this season, and Kansas City is #4. The defenses are both really good. This game will be decided by QB play, and give me the QB who has as many Super Bowl as the other QB has playoff wins.

Really, where were the Ravens that year? Last year?

Dude is the reigning SB MVP. Gloss over it all you want.

What everybody else did last week and they "Got what they asked for".

Like Eisen said, you'd rather have Buffalo on Sunday.

But the good teams you dominated don't have elite QB's??

Miami and Tua

San Fran and Purdy

Lions and Goff outside a dome?

Seattle and Geno?

Cinci with an injured Burrow?

Good teams you played who had good qb's were Cleveland and Watson (who beat you) and Rams and Stafford who aren't really a great "team" but still took ya'll to OT. And the crazy thing is Watson was playing hurt just like Burrow was.

This is a reasoned take that I agree with overall. Seen some of your earlier posts in this thread and think you’re being fair.

DVOA isn’t perfect, but it’s one of the few metrics we have to adjust for a team’s situational success and quality of opponents. But like you’re alluding to, real-world considerations like matchups, scheme, and raw talent can upend the expectations DVOA would have you believe.

I do think that in this case, there won’t be a dismantling of the Ravens the way the Chiefs did to the Bills. Both because the Chiefs don’t have the same personnel as then (Tyreek) and the Ravens are just flat better than the Bills.

Rich Eisen can speak for himself. Like I said earlier in this thread: I was actively rooting for KC so that we can beat the best to cement this team’s legacy.

If you want to feed every piece of information through a filter that is heavily biased to make a point, then feel free. The fact of the matter is that no team has every beat as many winning teams as the Ravens did this year, and no team has beat as many winning teams by 14+ points as the Ravens did this year. Taking that and arguing that the Ravens didn’t “prove it” seems pretty contrived.

You’re right though that Mahomes is Mahomes, and he levitates above all of these other teams. Absolutely no disagreement here.

The difference in DVOA between the Ravens and Chiefs is the same as the difference between the Chiefs and Jets.

I was just looking a bit and a couple things that popped up were the Ravens being 12th highest ever after 13 weeks and then 3rd highest ever after 16 weeks (didn't go digging for week to week).... the 49ers game was in there of course, but demoralizing the Dolphins was a huge push as well and we all know how overrated they were this year, too.

And then when you put up almost 30ppg against the Browns fraud "best defense", I'm sure that goes a long way, too.

There's probably some kind of fraud multiplier effect... Dolphins put up 70 on the Broncos and beat them by 50, then the Ravens put up 50+ on the Dolphins, and ohhh boy, the Ravens must be amazing!

Stats that are so fluid after 13+ games is concerning though... blow out one team and jump 10 spots on the highest ever list. :shrug:

That's cool, but you have to win the SB to beat the best.

I understand why you ignored the first part of my post.

:thumb:

I won’t pretend to know exactly how DVOA works (and some of it is proprietary), but there is an emphasis on recency of games with DVOA. It’s meant to account for the idea that more recent results are more indicative than earlier games. It’s why the Ravens have the highest “weighted” DVOA ever, because the blowouts you’re alluding to have happened within the past month whereas their losses happened months ago at this point.

Well given that the Ravens have already demolished both of the potential NFC representatives in the Super Bowl, I feel confident that this week is the biggest hurdle.

How is it biased though? The best teams the Ravens beat didn't have an elite QB or one that was healthy. Not knocking the season ya'll have had but the facts are the facts. And when the loses come against Minchew, Pickett and a very injured Watson, then it's something to look at for sure.

I actually think I've been really balanced here, so unsure where this is coming from. But yeah, is it irritating that all AA QBs are stereotyped as the same? Sure is. So when I see the same nonsense, I'm going to call it out, because that's what it is.

I can still have normal cross-talk and share objective opinions are also call out bullshit. Those two don't impact one another.

And the difference between playoff Patrick Mahomes and any of the QBs the Ravens defense has faced is the same as the difference between a filet mignon and a filet-o-fish.

Sure, I suppose there are kernels of truth in all of that. But on the whole, the Ravens had one of the most dominating regular seasons of all time. They played a quality schedule and dominated it. But in the end, you might be right that it might not mean anything because Patrick Mahomes exists!

No, it’s just a lazy, dumb, childish failure to actually engage in the debate. Why don’t you address the point and explain why it’s unfair to compare Hurts’s game to Jackson’s game (it’s not) by, you know, actually talking about football rather than lobbing stupid accusations of racist stereotyping?

It seemed like you were trying, and I don’t want to discourage that. But a comment like the one we’re referring to coming from an opposing fan on another fanbase’s message board is never going to fly. And I’m not opining on the substance of what you said at all; just the nature of being a visitor on another team’s forum. Go Ravens.

Lol don't try that bs here when you're on a forum of a team who also has a black QB bro please stop!!..Jalen from last year and Lamar's numbers this year are virtually the same so stop whining :evil:

Regular season doesn't equal the playoffs.

Funny, I thought last Sunday was our biggest hurdle to make it to the big game.

Being down 24-0 was a big task. Playing the Bills with Josh Allen and the #1 Defense was a big task. We an add in Patrick's ankle last postseason and argue those were big task. You are right, Sunday will be a big task, but just another in line of big task during his career. This may have more emphasis as it is on the road. However, thank God Pat looks at each of these playoff games as his biggest obstacle and refused to be beaten. He can be beaten, he just makes it awfully hard...

Baltimore, you guys keep clinging to DVOA… that’s your right

I’ll keep remembering that Patrick Mahomes’ playoff career stat line is that of an MVP.

His numbers in playoff games alone would make him the unanimous winner of the award if lined up against this year’s options. Games against nothing but good to great playoff teams. LMAO

i’d rather face this baltimore team than last year’s eagles team

Not sure what your point is anymore. I’ll leave you to pat yourself on the back about how singularly brilliant the Chiefs are and how the lowly Ravens can’t dare to dream of ever being on their level.

The post wasn't comparing parts of their games. It just said they were the same. I'm not going to keep rehashing this. Totally fair to compare any QB to any other, obviously. But when someone idiotically says they are the same QB, when they clearly are not save for ONE ATTRIBUTE, I'm going to call it out.

Yea, be careful there. If you win Sunday and the 49ers win, I will be rooting for you. If the Lions win, I gotta root for the Lions. If you do play the 49ers you have to assume Brock will throw 5 more picks? The 49ers rolled up 429 yards of offense in that game. Of course, this is assuming you can get by Mahomes, which will be your toughest task.

Fair enough! Good problem to have choosing between which monumental accomplishment is more monumental :thumb:

And what about all the posts referencing Lamar's wonderlic score and saying he is dumb and won't be able to read the Defense?

and honestly even already considering that 95% of playoff teams are good teams, I feel like the chiefs have had pretty strong playoff opponents most of the time, very rarely have we gotten a team we’re supposed to roll over. Probably just the steelers and dolphins

The Ravens have played four iterations of the Shanahan offense (Slowick x2, Shanahan, and McDaniel) and easily outclassed them all. It’s a schematic thing imo.

Only one saying that is you. At this point this season, we are on the same level. Vying for the Lamar Hunt trophy.

I'm grateful, because we weren't world beaters in the regular season, yet here we are.

We were playing Dan Sorenson, Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann that game... LMAO WE DONT HAVE TYREEK...

The Niners had 429 yards...

That's some midwest level passive aggressiveness right there, you're fitting in just fine. LMAO

They also turned the ball over 5 times and allowed 4 sacks.

let's be frank--- if we beat the ravens (in Mahomes we trust), how much do Ravens fans hate us? Is it 50% as much as the bills' fans do? This is the best ravens team we've seen since they beat kaep in the super bowl, and we've already had some big wins against them the last five years (I know, just like Buffalo has some big wins--- regular season).

I can feel the hatred burning under the surface if pat goes nuclear and we 13 second them.

Makes sense to some extent, but like the Dolphins were always huge frauds and also known for late season collapses. I'd put beating the 49ers in December up there with impressive late season wins for sure, but if a metric props up wins like the Phins so much, they should tweak the metric a bit.

Yep, and we are no longer rolling out Hitchens, Niemann, Sorenson and Fenton on defense, this is far from the Chiefs Defense of past years...

We’ve had this conversation every year with a different fan base for the last 6 years. Don’t believe me? Go back into the archives and pull them up.

Opposing Fan:
“Hi, Joe Fan Here from X. Just wanted to stop by and wish you guys luck and a great game Saturday/Sunday. Should be fun…”
(Reads board, can’t believe how confident Chiefs Fans are on a Chiefs MB)

“Have you guys even looked at our stats and who we played and beat? I mean, this team is different…”
(Reads replies and can’t believe the amount of disrespect he’s seeing)

“You know, Mahomes hasn’t faced a player like X or a Defense like ours. This isn’t going to be some BS D like the X that you faced in he Divisional Round.
(Reads replies and can’t believe he’s being ignored. The butthurt intensifies)

“Wow, I can’t believe you guys are so confident and arrogant! Do you even watch football outside of KC? Have you seen these stats? (Links numerous worthless stats that we’ve all seen before and waits for people to be impressed. No one is impressed)

“What the f is wrong with Chiefs Fans? You have NEVER faced an opponent like our Team! This is going to be Mahomes greatest challenge ever. He’ll have to have the Strength of Thor and the Wisdom of Solomon to even have a small chance of victory. You are doomed!” (Reads replies that everyone is now laughing at him. People have now stopped replying. He’s incensed)

“**** you, you bunch of inbred Missouri hillbillies! KC is a shithole and YOUR BBQ sucks!!! I hope our D rips Mahomes head off and shits down his neck. **** you!!! (Account deleted).

*RINSE. REPEAT. EVERY YEAR

I get what you are saying and when I was referring to the other teams, I was referring to their fanbases. The "We're gonna smash KC because we are awesome" mindset is not new and something we have heard many times before.

The Ravens are very good this year and there is no debating that. Games are played on the field for a reason. Even the best team of the modern era (2007 Patriots) did not win it all. They actually lost to an Eli Manning led Giants team that was a wild card.

I get it that this is a down year for KC and even in a down year, they are still in the AFCCG. Everyone thinks because the offense is not as explosive that it usually is that KC is weak. Their offense is not as elite as it has been in many years, but their defense (which I still think is overlooked) is elite this year with stars at all three levels.

I had mentioned on here before the playoffs started that the Chiefs are the most experienced team in the playoffs and that matters. They know how to win when the lights are brightest. They are not the Carolina Panthers.

For the first time since the 2018 season they are not the hunted (despite being the defending champs), but get to be the hunter. There is zero pressure on them to win. As such they can go out and play loose.

As I also mentioned, Baltimore could win, and if they do then awesome. I will pull for them over SF (but not Det). I actually don't have anything against them and I think highly of Jackson. I just don't think Baltimore is so much better than KC that they will blow them out.

Yes, Brock Purdy threw picks... Purdy is not Mahomes. That's my point.

You've been balanced. But if the Ravens win you're going to FOR SURE say hell yeah we beat the Chiefs and after they talked mad shit all week!


Like, we know you're over here fishing for hot takes. As if we're Patriots fans screaming NEVER COUNT OUT TOUCHDOWN TOM I MEAN PENALTY PAT

It's just pretty transparent, that's all.

Chiefs could lose to the Ravens, it's true. Frankly this is our down year and we made it to the sixth straight AFCCG and it's house money at this point. Youngest defense in the league and set up for another five years of dominance.

Fair point, besides personnel what is this years D doing that is different and/or better?

LMAO

Totally fair to feel that way. I won't, to be clear, gloat whatsoever if we win (if I comment at all - I don't want it to seen as rubbing it in). And if we lose I'll be back here, will just need to pull myself out of my depression first. I get a lot of opposing fans come in and are over the top in homerism or just assholes. I don't think I'm that at all.

Today we get actual media coverage at the facilities, so there’s that.

This is what I was wondering about. I was curious if Baltimore would do this or if they would just line up and play how they did all year thinking that they would still win.

It's funny you mention that, I feel the exact same way about the Chiefs and Andy...

Can't wait to see what both teams bring.

Spags has the speed and competence at Linebacker and shutdown corners in Sneed and McDuffie, and a smart Safety in Reid to run whatever he wants. There are no glaring weaknesses at any level. Spags can choose to shut down the pass between the 20's and let a team like the Bills rack up rushing yards and decide to hold them to FG's. That was the plan last week, but Josh made two crazy 3rd and long throws to get 2 TDs, which with most QBs would have been FGs. He can run and disguise blitz packages knowing we can cover really well in Zero, or he can rush 2 and drop 8 and have a spy. He is all over the board this year because it's the first time he's had this level of talent playing this well.