Baltimore Beatdown staff reacts to the Ravens’ AFC Championship Game loss
The Baltimore Ravens suffer a painful home defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens first-ever time hosting an AFC Championship Game goes awry, losing 17-10. Below are the reactions from the Baltimore Beatdown staff.
The Ravens offense failed. As a result, their title dreams end and the Chiefs’ reign continues.
The defense played their asses off. They blanked the Chiefs in the second half and allowed fewer than 100 yards in the final two quarters. They gave the offense repeated opportunities to win the game but the offense failed to score points. A knock-out punch by Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Snead shattered the comeback attempt at the one-yard line as Zay Flowers lost the football and the Chiefs recovered in the end zone.
Then, another comeback bid was ran short when Lamar Jackson air-mailed a ball into triple coverage.
I’m most curious why the gameplan went so heavily on the passing game when the Chiefs weakness on defense was stopping the run. The Ravens running backs finished with six carries. Make it make sense.
A poor offensive display wasted a herculean defensive effort. Getting back here is more unlikely than likely. This will be a tough offseason for the Baltimore Ravens. — Kyle Phoenix
What a pathetic and tragic way to end what was an otherwise sensational and historic season. Yes the officiating was absolutely atrocious and one-sided but the Ravens offense were the ones that squandered this golden opportunity away. It was there for the taking, the defense pitched a shutout in the second half but their offensive counterparts couldn’t capitalize or get out of their own way. They didn’t commit to running the ball against one of the poorer rush defenses in the league and instead opted to play them on their terms and failed to adjust or finish drives. This truly sickening and surreal given how well this team has played their best against the best all year only to fall flat on their face with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. Get ready for an offseason of playoff narratives spiraling out of control because they’re coming and will be fast and furious. That defense was special and were championship caliber for three of the four quarters on Sunday but their offense just let them down. — Joshua Reed
The one thing we knew would take out the Ravens did. Self mistakes were the Achilles heel of this team all season and it reared it’s head once more. We can blame the refs or whatever. At the end of the day, the Ravens were the better, healthier team and had no excuses. And they made too many mistakes.
The defense started slow. Like normal, they tightened up. But they had way too many dumb penalties and couldn’t find the stop to give the offense a final chance. They let Travis Kelce get in their head and didn’t play a disciplined game. The offense was god awful. Against a team that couldn’t defend the run, they hardly ran it. Lamar wasn’t accurate most of the game outside of a special couple throws. He wasn’t decisive when deciding when to run and threw a fourth quarter drive away by throwing it into triple coverage. The offensive line struggled. They also took too many penalties and turned the ball over. Zay Flowers got an awful taunting penalty by pushing a corner, then throwing a ball in his face…and then standing over him…and then flexing. A little too much when you are trying to mount a comeback. And then fumbled the ball into the end zone by trying to reach instead of protecting the ball.
At the end of the day, there were no excuses for how bad the Ravens played. Lamar Jackson will receive more playoff criticism and deservedly so. Another playoff run and he only added one half of good play. Hard to argue against those allegations. — Zach Canter