Quote:
Originally Posted by camdenyard
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. |
Howdy. Cordial, non-douche fans of other teams are always welcome to bring intelligent football takes to the board. Since you seem to make the cut, I will respond.
You bring up some fair points. I certainly respect the Ravens defense and I like some of what I've seen from Lamar Jackson(who is on the verge of taking me to the fantasy playoffs in my 2 QB league). Undoubtedly, any team with a 1/2 decent run game will be licking it's chops to get a bite of our soft as butter run defense. However, I think you're off on a couple things:
1. While the Ravens have won in KC recently, as you point out, those Chiefs teams were not quarterbacked by the MVP of the league. This one is.
2. You're 27 point mark seems ambitious. If both teams we've lost to would have scored 28 points, they both would've basically been blown out. Score 35 plus or don't bother.
3. Rookie QB's starting at Arrowhead for the first time have a less than stellar win ratio. LJ has played one game on the road at the home field of a fair weather, disappointed fan base. Arrowhead will be loud as hell and certainly could rattle him. I'm considering benching him for stupid Derek Carr in fantasy. I'm serious. I could easily see a scenario where Lamar makes an early mistake or two, the Ravens go down 14-0 and he gets pulled for Flacco.
4. Many a team has planned to win the TOP and grind out the Chiefs. Many a team has found themselves down double digits before they knew what had happened.
Looking forward to a good game. I got Chiefs 31-27 in a game that is not as close as the final score.