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Originally Posted by Megatron96
Hardly makes KC infallible. Does tend to hide a lot of warts, when there are a lot of warts, like this season.
Personally, I had BAL beating KC in this game a few weeks ago, when we were kind of prognosticating what the playoffs would look like.
Imo, BAL is the more complete team this season, with a much better group of weapons than they've had in the past (is Mark Andrews going to play in this game, btw?) and a defense the equal of, possibly even better than, the Chiefs' defense. Though the margin is pretty thin in that regard. Again, imo.
But really, this game probably will be decided by whether Pacheco will be effective running the ball vs. your DL/LBs (something I'm not confident about) and if Pat can elevate the play of his receivers not named Travis Kelce/Rashee Rice, something else that I have doubts about. And KC is dependent on Pacheco being able to run the ball effectively, this season more than any other. And our WRs, outside of Rice, are basically varying degrees of trash.
So Pat will have to play a really great game. No average performance is going to get it done. i expect BAL to score somewhere in the mid-20s, maybe as many as 27, after watching how they dismantled SF's defense. The Chiefs offense is going to have to elevate their play above anything we've seen so far in 2023.
This is where I'm hoping that your DL won't be able to generate consistent quick pressure on Mahomes. That somehow Andy will find a way to keep them at bay long enough for Pat to get through his reads and execute the offense.
If not, we're probably toast.
But none of that is extraordinary. Every offense needs to be able to protect the passer and run the ball to win. If our defense can stuff the run and pressure Lamar but keep him from running all over the place, we have a legit shot at beating BAL. Simple. Not easy by any stretch, but simple.
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Good takes. Agree with most of this.
I really do think the operative matchup is the Chiefs' IOL vs Ravens' DTs. Both because that's how the Ravens generate pressure without blitzing and because run stopping is the one relative weakness the defense has had. I hope Thuney plays so that we get a true test of those two units against each other.
As to Andrews, there was a report today that he is good to go for Sunday. Tough to tell whether that's a smokescreen, but I think this was the game they've been targeting. He doesn't rely on athleticism, so it's not the end of the world if he's gimpy. I think his being on the field would be valuable as a distraction/decoy if nothing else.