Let's Talk About Baltimore (AFC Championship)

[SHOWTIME]

Headed back to the AFC Championship Game!!!! Discuss.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

Literally could not be more wrong. The Ravens were a highly successful franchise before they took Lamar Jackson at 32 and played a large part in making him who he is. They had multiple Super Bowls and hall of famers before he entered the equation.

Edit: gonna remove this line about the Chiefs. Don't want to be insulting. Point is Ravens are far more than Lamar Jackson.

You removed the Chiefs line, but we won 3 Championships, 2 AFL and one Superbowl in our early years as well with multiple HOF's. And no, you are not the Browns... When your franchise is 70 years old with the same ownership family, you can talk to us about Great franchises. You have done pretty good for the first 26 years...

[New World Order]

Coaching also a pretty big X-factor. We may have the greatest offensive play caller/coach of all-time and the Ravens have a…special teams coach?

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

"Digger" making a late push to be biggest hater on the board. Taking the torch from rydogg58 to dislike every single comment I make.

Gotta give it to these guys. Really taking advantage of the lack of a cap on thumbs downs here. Very similar to Mahomes taking advantage of every rule in the book like when he tip toes down the sideline to squeeze out extra yards and yet flails wildly when a defender dares to actually push him out.

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

and another one off the deep end...

[OneWinningDrive]

Originally Posted by RunKC

You don't have any All-Pro's on your DL. Hamilton and Rowuan are very good but you guys are probably not stupid enough to blitz Mahomes. I don't have faith in your front 4 getting consistent pressure on Mahomes.

If you don't know you Michael Pierce and Travis Jones are, that's a you problem. The Ravens' interior o-line is elite.

And I would argue it has been constructed specifically to beat Mahomes. The Ravens knew they would need to go through KC more years than not, but instead of going for an elite edge to generate pressure with four, they built from the inside of the line out to collapse the pocket from the interior. They have the most sacks in the NFL without a top-tier edge rusher and without blitzing very much. That should tell you what you need to know about the d-line.

[digger]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

"Digger" making a late push to be biggest hater on the board. Taking the torch from rydogg58 to dislike every single comment I make.

Gotta give it to these guys. Really taking advantage of the lack of a cap on thumbs downs here. Very similar to Mahomes taking advantage of every rule in the book like when he tip toes down the sideline to squeeze out extra yards and yet flails wildly when a defender dares to actually push him out.

Don't hate the player; hate the game.

you: 2>13
the rest of the world: Math don't Math son...

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by RunKC

You don't have any All-Pro's on your DL. Hamilton and Rowuan are very good but you guys are probably not stupid enough to blitz Mahomes. I don't have faith in your front 4 getting consistent pressure on Mahomes.

This was surprising to me as the #1 sack team. If you look at the odds for recording sacks, all of the Ravens front are +150 or higher. That surprised me, Vegas thinks the Chiefs Oline will do OK... Not saying that will play out, but that's what Vegas is saying by the odds out there.

[OneWinningDrive]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

When your franchise is 70 years old with the same ownership family, you can talk to us about Great franchises.

We're talking about the ownership family that cornered the silver market and led to market panics/crashes for personal gain, correct?

The Chiefs are a great franchise. I wish the Colts hadn't left Baltimore and there was more history between the KC/Baltimore franchises, but alas, the Ravens have turned out well for us.

[carcosa]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

If you don't know you Michael Pierce and Travis Jones are, that's a you problem. The Ravens' interior o-line is elite.

And I would argue it has been constructed specifically to beat Mahomes. The Ravens knew they would need to go through KC more years than not, but instead of going for an elite edge to generate pressure with four, they built from the inside of the line out to collapse the pocket from the interior. They have the most sacks in the NFL without a top-tier edge rusher and without blitzing very much. That should tell you what you need to know about the d-line.

Eagles had the third most sacks of all time last season. How'd that turn out, dawg?

[digger]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

If you don't know you Michael Pierce and Travis Jones are, that's a you problem. The Ravens' interior o-line is elite.

And I would argue it has been constructed specifically to beat Mahomes. The Ravens knew they would need to go through KC more years than not, but instead of going for an elite edge to generate pressure with four, they built from the inside of the line out to collapse the pocket from the interior. They have the most sacks in the NFL without a top-tier edge rusher and without blitzing very much. That should tell you what you need to know about the d-line.

Red looks better on you... come back next year, if you can make it back to the playoffs...

[OneWinningDrive]

Originally Posted by digger

Red looks better on you... come back next year, if you can make it back to the playoffs...

Now it all makes sense. The red thumbs down and red negative reputation... you're involuntarily coopting me into being adorned with traditional Chiefs colors just like how your franchise has involuntarily appropriated Native American imagery! There's that Midwest charm!

[OneWinningDrive]

Originally Posted by carcosa

Eagles had the third most sacks of all time last season. How'd that turn out, dawg?

Turned out with the refs gifting the Chiefs a penalty to decide the game in the final few seconds.

[digger]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

Now it all makes sense. The red thumbs down and red negative reputation... you're involuntarily coopting me into being adorned with traditional Chiefs colors just like how your franchise has involuntarily appropriated Native American imagery! There's that Midwest charm!

Learn son...

The Chiefs are named for former Kansas City, Missouri Mayor H. Roe Bartle, who was instrumental in moving the former Dallas Texans football team to KC. Bartle earned his nickname “The Chief” by founding a Boy Scout Camp near Osceola, Missouri, which is now named for him.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

That makes sense if true. I can see the confusion. My starting point is that Mahomes is the best player in the NFL and one of the best of all time. The question is then does that make the Chiefs infallible, or can a complete team like the Ravens take them down? But the premise is never that Mahomes is anything but the best player in the league.

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.

[OneWinningDrive]

Alright, I'm done. Don't want to derail this thread any further than I already have. Will only post about football stuff now if I'm not banned. Hoping for a great game and the first of many in the playoffs.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by OneWinningDrive

Now it all makes sense. The red thumbs down and red negative reputation... you're involuntarily coopting me into being adorned with traditional Chiefs colors just like how your franchise has involuntarily appropriated Native American imagery! There's that Midwest charm!

Now you're getting it.