Jones: Ravens strayed from their identity against Chiefs and paid the price

BALTIMORE – Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs once again showed their championship qualities on Sunday, defeating the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC title game.

Reid, Patrick Mahomes and company are heading to their fourth Super Bowl in six seasons, not because they boasted a productive offense or breathtaking fireworks. No, they had punched their ticket to Las Vegas because Reid and his staff had won their chess match with John Harbaugh and his Ravens assistants and positioned their team to pull off the toughest victory in the history of this budding dynasty.

The Chiefs, long known for lighting up scoreboards with dazzling heroics from Mahomes, didn't even score in Sunday's second half. Instead, they leaned heavily on experience and also leaned on the most dominant defense Kansas City has fielded over the past six seasons. That defense turned in a performance that largely neutralized presumptive NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and one of the league's most imposing offensive attacks of the 2023 season.

But as a whole, the Ravens found themselves on the losing side after succumbing to pressure early and failing to overcome crippling mistakes late.

The Chiefs were well aware of how the Ravens are built and how they like to attack on offense (with a strong running game that provides balance and sets the stage for an improved passing attack) and understood the importance of a fast start. They turned up the pressure early to force Baltimore into a quick three-and-out and then delivered as impressive an offensive performance as they have all postseason: a 10-play, 86-yard scoring drive , capped by a 19-yard Mahomes pass to Travis Kelce. With that, the Chiefs extended their streak of game-opening touchdown drives to eight straight playoff games.

The Ravens responded with a touchdown of their own: a highlight-worthy sack from Jackson and a 30-yard strike to Zay Flowers. But the Chiefs came right back with a methodical 16-play, 75-yard drive that ate up the 9:02 clock.

Mahomes couldn't miss and completed 11 straight passes to start the game. Kelce was as unguarded as ever. And that Chiefs defense, which turned from serviceable to dominant this season, kept the pressure going, setting up a strip sack and recovery at the Baltimore 33-yard line.

And just like that, the Ravens were on high alert.

Punt, touchdown and fumble were not the desired tone setter for Baltimore early in the first half. The Ravens' defense had yielded just two touchdown drives in the past 26 games, and until Kelce's touchdown catch, Baltimore's second-year star safety Kyle Hamilton had never surrendered a touchdown to a tight end as a pro.

The scoreboard may have read 14-7, but because Baltimore was in uncharted territory, the deficit felt much bigger. And that's when the Ravens committed their cardinal sin.

Overwhelmed by the ease with which the Chiefs had scored, they panicked. On defense they temporarily lost their balance while committing life-threatening personal mistakes. And offensively, they got carried away into believing they had slipped into a much bigger hole than they actually found themselves in. As a result, they abandoned their bread and butter and tried to adapt a playstyle they weren't built for.

After dominating on the ground all season, the Ravens opted for a pass-heavy offense far too early.

Through the remainder of the second quarter, the Ravens only ran the ball twice (once on a play outside of Jackson's schedule). They only ran the ball seven more times throughout the rest of the game. The league's leading rushing team — a unit that averaged 156.5 rushing yards per game while boasting the most balanced offense in the NFL — became one-dimensional, finishing with just 81 ground yards, without ever regaining control in a very winnable match.

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The Ravens trailed just 17-7 at halftime. Yet they came out in the second half with the same frenetic feel and approach as if they were behind by a bigger margin. They kept shooting even as their defense kept them in the game and the Chiefs off the scoreboard.

“It was just that kind of game, I would say,” Harbaugh said of the season's 16 rushing attempts. “That's just how it happened.”

The lack of a run game meant that Baltimore's offense never regained the rhythm that carried it so much this season. And the lack of balance eased the pressure on the Chiefs' defense because it allowed Kansas City's pass rushers to put their ears back and get after Jackson. Meanwhile, with the quarterback not getting hit, a familiar problem — a lack of consistency in the receiving department — arose for the Ravens.

Time and time again, Jackson dropped back to throw, but struggled to find an open receiver. Aside from Flowers, who finished the game with five catches on eight targets for 115 yards and a touchdown, Baltimore's receivers struggled to get any separation. Running back Justice Hill was the second leading receiver with four catches, and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that Odell Beckham Jr. managed to participate (three catches for 22 yards).

“We could have run the ball,” Jackson said. “But we were just down and trying to get the ball upfield. You have to make something happen.”

Zay Flowers had a touchdown catch on Sunday, but also a costly fumble. (Geoff Burke/USA Today)

Even though they were one-dimensional, the Ravens still had a chance. To open the fourth quarter, they reached the shadow of the Kansas City goal line after a five-play, 78-yard drive, highlighted by a 54-yard throw to Flowers. But that possession ended painfully with a fumble when Kansas City's L'Jarius Sneed knocked the ball out of Flowers' grasp as the receiver dove for the end zone after an eight-yard catch.

And on the next possession, after reaching the Kansas City 25, Jackson threw an interception in triple coverage while trying to connect with tight end Isaiah Likely.

A 43-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with 2:38 left cut the deficit to a touchdown, but the Ravens got no closer.

The Chiefs didn't score in the second half, but they didn't need to. They did just enough offensively to shore up their dominant defense and run precious minutes off the clock: five minutes here, two minutes there, another four there. At the end of the game, they had won the time of possession battle from 37:30 to 22:30.

The loss represents a missed opportunity for the Ravens, even if the game never felt as close as the score suggests. Jackson and his teammates lamented that they had only managed one touchdown, and that they would have to repeat costly mistakes in the offseason. It's impossible not to wonder if a more patient approach would have better benefited the Ravens and helped them find a better offensive flow throughout the game.

“You'd like to use the saying of 'I'd like to get this back or play this,' but you can't get those plays back,” right tackle Morgan Moses said. “You have to learn from them and move forward. And you know, it's not over yet. Anytime you have a quarterback like Lamar, you have an opportunity to play in games like this again.”

This one will stick for a while though, especially because of the way it ended.

The 2023 season was a year of change and growth in Baltimore, and perhaps the Ravens can build on that. But on Sunday, as they pursued their ultimate goal, they strayed from their identity when the pressure reached its highest point and never recovered.

(Top photo: Rob Carr/Getty Images)