Ravens Lose An AFC Championship Game That Will Haunt Them Forever
That one is never going to stop hurting.
I mean what is there to say. Credit to the Chiefs. They played exactly the kind of game they needed to play, plus had the things in their favor that they needed to go their way.
The first half really tells the story. Time of possession was basically 20 minutes Chiefs, 10 minutes Ravens. The Chiefs were fortunate to win the toss and choose to defer, and then the Ravens laid a complete and total egg on an opening 3 and out. Totally outsmarted themselves instead of shoving the ball right down the throats of a team that was vulnerable in the middle of the field.
The Chiefs responded by capitalizing in a big way with a dominant TD drive. We had no answers for them. They basically ran the same script we did in the second half against the Texans. Quick passes, take everything easy in front of them, and dink and dunk their way down the field to immunize against the past rush. It wasn't without a couple of miracle flailing ducks from Mahomes to Kelce, but that's part of their sauce. Credit to them.
We of course answered with a RIDICULOUS Lamar TD throw to Zay that seemed to have settled the nerves from there.
Thing is, the Chiefs just kept coming and our defense had very little answer for it. They themselves to control of the football game with another TD drive that we basically chased the rest of the game.
There's a few plays that really hurt from there forward. The very next drive, Lamar was ready to unwind a bomb to Bateman that very well could've been a TD. Instead, Ronnie Stanley got beat and it turned into a strip sack. Classic example of a play that could've contributed to a legendary result for Lamar, but instead feeds into a loser narrative.
From there they chased tail all night. One sequence in particular that I HATED was they way they treated the 1st half 2 minute warning.
Lamar throws to Likely for 6 to make it 2nd and 4 at Baltimore's 47 with around 2:35 left, with the play clock running from 40. Meaning... they didn't need to run a play if they didn't want to. And they didn't. They half-heartedly feigned a play and then let the clock run down to the 2 min warning.
That was a big mistake in my eyes. They should've hard counted a bunch of times in an effort to get that offsides, but then run the ball down their throats with Gus close to the 2 min warning to get a free run play. I'm beyond confident they get yards there, probably the first down and move the sticks and don't lose time on the clock with the 2 min warning. From there they methodically put points in the board, theoretically.
Instead, they take a lackluster deep shot to Agholor out of the 2 min warning and then Lamar checks out of the call to the dumbest throw alive to the flat to Justice Hill on 3rd down. Punt, and the Chiefs bullshit their way via penalty to 3 points on the board. BAM. Manageable 14-7 lead becomes a 17-7 mountain.
It was such an opportune moment to right the ship going into the half, and they outsmarted themselves and ended up in a bigger hole.
It put the defensive in a really tough spot out of the 2nd half. They fucking delivered anyway. The Chiefs first 5 drives in the 2nd half yielded 24 plays for 73 yards. They may have helped to dig the hole.... but goddamn did they hold tight and do their job to keep the Ravens in that football game.
It's just so heartbreaking man. The story is so different if Zay Flowers punches that football in. So different man. He was a dog all night and all season... and I don't think there's a soul in this city that is truly hammering the guy tonight.... but man is that a soulcrushing play in that football game. Would've made the game nice and snug at 17-14 and put all kinds of pressure on the Chiefs who had not moved the ball at all... and instead they got a lifeline.
Lamar pick a bit later didn't help either, although that's a guy just trying to make a play in desperate times.
Damn. We had those motherfuckers on the ropes and we let them off the hook.
3 turnovers will do that. That tells the story every time. It's just a great example where you can put together 2-3 drives of football and so can the other team.... but if your drives result in TD's and the other's result in goal line fumbles and INT's... there ya have it.
We had them by the balls. It'll haunt me forever.
You can't convince me that the 2023 Chiefs are a better football team than the 2023 Ravens. But they played a better football game tonight. Hard to argue.
It's just so deflating. That was the same argument in 2019. When does that just become part of your DNA and who you are.
This Lamar is going to eat up Lamar and the rest of the locker room. As it should. I just hope they can see it for what it is and not read into the "can't" part of things and understand it was just a "didn't" type of thing. They'll be back in some similar scenarios next year. Will they act like housecats or dogs? Time will tell.
For now............ this one.... I'll never let go. I'm sorry America. The Ravens should have done their job. I'm at a loss for words at this point.
Til next year...
PS: Big credit for me for hardly saying a word about the officiating in that game. I tried to ignore the Shawn Smith narratives but holy fuck did they not even try to hide the job.
The FG drive before half was completely manufactured by the league. The taunting on Zay was a fucking joke. Roughing on Clowney????? Not to mention they literally invented a timeout in the first quarter right after the Ravens earned their first shift in momentum today. Absolute clown show. Many people didn't do their job today, but Shawn Smith did his. Not hard to understand what I mean by that.