The Kansas City Chiefs reached the Super Bowl for the second time in a row with a 17:10 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship of the NFL playoffs. The best man was record man Travis Kelce with an outstanding performance.
Chiefs @ Ravens: At a glance
- The Chiefs managed to reach the Super Bowl again. As in 2020, they now have another chance to win two Super Bowls in a row for the first time since 2004 (Patriots).
- Travis Kelce was the standout man in the game, breaking Jerry Rice’s decades-old record for most playoff receptions.
- With the Ravens you can mostly be angry with yourself. Countless mistakes on both sides of the ball put them behind early on and prevented even the beginning of a comeback in the end.
Chiefs @ Ravens: The analysis
The Chiefs got started with two impressive drives marked by a few remarkable receptions from Travis Kelce, who carried the offense in the early stages and even scored the first touchdown of the game himself – a 19-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes into the end zone. Mahomes had previously found Kelce in the opposing half on a fourth attempt.
The Ravens, who were stopped on their first drive, had a fitting answer on their second drive. After Lamar Jackson had turned a 4th & 1 into a new 1st down with a 21-yard run, he freed himself from heavy pressure from the Chiefs and fired a spectacular 30-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers to equalize in the first quarter .
The Chiefs then went on another long drive without much resistance. Mahomes found Kelce lying in the air on third down, who extended the drive with a diving catch and a little later Isiah Pacheco ran for a two-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Jackson lost a fumble a short time later, but it was not penalized. As a result, the Ravens were unable to do anything offensively for a long time. For some reason, they also shut down the run game and Jackson couldn’t get a rhythm in the passing game. At halftime, Harrison Butker increased the lead to ten points with a 52-yard field goal. The Ravens were even lucky that there were only ten, because the Chiefs got in their own way on the last drive of the half with two holding penalties from Trey Smith.
In the third quarter, there was very little offensive success on either side. It wasn’t until the end of the quarter that the Ravens found a rhythm and even made it into the red zone after a 54-yard shot play from Jackson to Flowers. Flowers, however, then received a taunting penalty that sent the team back to the 25. To go one better, he lost a fumble on the way to the end zone at the beginning of the final quarter – L’Jarius Sneed knocked the ball out of him Hand and the Chiefs recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.
Jackson ends game with second turnover
Flowers then topped his frustration at his mistakes with an angry punch against a bench, leaving him with a bleeding wound on his hand. But he stayed in the game after that.
The Ravens defense stopped KC again, giving Jackson another chance to recover after a strong punt from Tommy Townsend. Once again he brought his team within reach for points, but then he threw into triple coverage and Deon Bush grabbed what was probably the decisive interception in the end zone.
But the Ravens got the ball again and ultimately settled for a field goal from 43 yards by Justin Tucker. With 2:34 minutes left on the clock, they had two timeouts left. The Ravens meltdown then continued happily: They started the following drive with twelve men on the field, only to receive a roughing penalty before the ball was even snapped. After all that, Mahomes finally put the lid on 3rd & 9 with a deep ball to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The Chiefs are in the Super Bowl for the fourth time since 2019 and could win their third title during this period.
Kansas City Chiefs (#3) @ Baltimore Ravens (#1)
Result: 17:10 (7:7, 10:0, 0:0, 0:3) BOXSCORE
Chiefs @ Ravens: Key stats
- This was the first time this season that the Ravens allowed two touchdowns on the first two opposing drives of a game.
- Travis Kelce has passed Jerry Rice (151 REC) for the most playoff receptions ever. With his 11 receptions (116 YDS, TD), he now has 156 receptions in the postseason.
- The Ravens’ passing game didn’t work at all before halftime. Lamar Jackson had just five completions before the break, including one to himself. The latter went for 13 yards and was the longest completion to a player in the playoffs since at least 1950.
- For the Ravens it was the 25th defeat in a row in games in which they were at least ten points behind at halftime.
The star of the game: Travis Kelce (Tight End, Chiefs)
Kelce took the Chiefs offense on his shoulders, especially in the first half, was always there when Mahomes urgently needed a pass and set a new playoff reception record. An impressive performance from the tight end.
The flop of the game: Lamar Jackson (quarterback, Ravens)
The designated MVP failed across the board. Before the break, he seemed completely out of character on all but two plays and only completed five passes. He never really got along with the blitz, lost a fumble, often held the ball too long after halftime, which led to sacks, and essentially ended the game with an interception in triple coverage in the final quarter. Zay Flowers helped a lot with his mistakes, but the main blame may lie with Jackson.
Analysis: Chiefs @ Ravens – that stood out tactically
- The Ravens tried to pressure Mahomes without blitzing for much of the first half. However, that didn’t work at all, so towards the middle of the second quarter they relied on blitzes and at least occasionally got through to Mahomes.
- One of the blitzers was safety Tyler Hamilton, who was posted everywhere. He could even be found as an outside cornerback. Likewise, he was one of several players targeted for Kelce. However, no one had any significant success in a direct duel against the tight end, who could also be found almost everywhere.
- The Chiefs, who often blitzed Jackson, repeatedly relied on defensive tackle Chris Jones as a 5-technique end on obvious passing downs, which led to mismatches because it made it easier for him to get into the pocket without being double-teamed to see opposite.
- From a play-calling perspective, two things were notable about the Ravens offensively: Firstly, despite a first carry from Gus Edwards for 15 yards, they largely forgo the conventional run game with the running backs. On the other hand, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t see a single target before the fourth quarter.