With the Ravens having their 14-game regular-season winning streak snapped in the 34-20 loss to Kansas City on Monday night, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. The defense made way too many mistakes against the defending champs, but Patrick Mahomes had the answer for virtually everything Wink Martindale threw his way in terms of blitzes and coverages. Mahomes plays like everyone else on the field is in slow motion, making quarterbacking look very easy.
2. The offense was completely out of sorts for all but the third quarter, which still produced its share of mistakes. From abandoning the run and not playing with enough tempo to having receivers run into each other and players looking downright confused at times, Greg Roman’s unit looked unprepared.
3. Third down was excruciating as the Chiefs converted 10 of their first 12 with nine of those requiring at least five yards to move the chains and all but one coming through the air. Not getting off the field on third down is dying a slow death.
4. None were more painful than Kansas City’s fourth-quarter drive after Baltimore had made it a 27-20 game. Chuck Clark was tardy covering Clyde Edwards-Helaire on an 18-yard catch on third-and-5, and the right edge was inexplicably vacant for Mahomes to scramble 12 yards on third-and-10. Game over soon thereafter.
5. Lamar Jackson has received the brunt of the criticism, which goes with the territory when a quarterback plays poorly, but Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown combined for five drops. Your top two receiving targets having a total of five catches for 35 yards in a big game is unacceptable.
6. With Brown, Willie Snead, and Miles Boykin combining for five catches and 25 yards out of a total of 137 offensive snaps, it’s time to get speedy rookie Devin Duvernay more involved offensively. His 93-yard kick return for a touchdown was one of the few bright spots of the night.
7. Jackson averaged just 3.46 yards per passing attempt, the worst single-game mark by a Ravens quarterback since Joe Flacco’s 1.56 against Jacksonville in the London debacle three years ago. Fun times.
8. Patrick Queen flashed his talent while making some mistakes over the first two weeks, but Monday was a game to forget as the rookie first-round pick was picked on in coverage and benched for a chunk of the second half. Remember he made only 15 career starts at LSU.
9. Acknowledging the busted coverage, the touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman on third-and-14 late in the second quarter was a clear example where any semblance of a consistent four-man rush would be preferable to blitzing both Marlon Humphrey and Clark in an obvious passing situation.
Mahomes drops back and LAUNCHES to Hardman for SIX! #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsBAL on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/QjJ5lF3Rg2 pic.twitter.com/uafqFfYYuJ— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2020
10. John Harbaugh wasn’t very aggressive, settling for a field goal on fourth-and-3 on the opening drive after successfully going for it in a nearly identical scenario against the Chiefs last year. I also thought he might go for two trailing by eight when Baltimore scored to open the fourth quarter.
11. The one time Harbaugh elected to go for it in a meaningful situation was the fourth-and-2 from the Chiefs’ 19 in the third quarter when Orlando Brown Jr. committed a false start. I also think Harbaugh was somewhat displeased with the tripping call on Nick Boyle in the opening quarter.
John Harbaugh about to fistfight this ref has been my mood all 2020 pic.twitter.com/ENRaKPkc8a
— Slightly Biased (@BiasedSlightly) September 29, 2020
12. A shovel-pass touchdown to fullback Anthony Sherman was bad enough, but Mahomes’ touchdown to tackle Eric Fisher prompted an eruption in the Kansas City coaches’ booth adjacent to the press box. The Ravens are often praised for playing chess rather than checkers, but Andy Reid was Garry Kasparov on Monday.
