Hi guys. Nice board.
When I look at this game, I think back to the Ravens' Denver playoff game in the 2012 Super Bowl season.
I felt like our defense could hold them down (we got a few key players back from injury for that game) enough for us to win. I wasn't confident of a win then, but I think I was in the minority that I thought we had a pretty decent chance.
I have a similar feeling about this game. I think nobody (except Tony Romo) is giving our defense enough credit. We are #1 in yards and points, way up there in several statistical categories. We give up 4.6 yards/play and nobody else is within .3 yards/play. And that is with very limited help from turnovers. What they did to Atlanta last week was shocking. They hadn't been held to 131 yards at home since 1977. Ryan never has been held down like that for a whole game. And that was a good passing offense.
KC has one of the worst defenses in the NFL as you are painfully aware. Add in our recent ability to hold the ball and get big TOP advantages, and this is setting up to be something KC hasn't seen all year.
For those that say "oh, but Arrowhead is the toughest place to play, especially in December.." - I point out that the last 3 times the Ravens have played there, they have won. Once in December, once in January (I went to that one
). Pittsburgh is a hard place to win too, as is NE - but this team doesn't seem to be intimidated in those stadiums. Defense usually travels well.
Obviously we need to limit KC's possessions and score points on ours. I think 27 is the magic number. If we score more than that, I think we win. No prediction aside from that.