Getty Ravens QB Lamar Jackson after play in AFC Championship game against Chiefs.
The Baltimore Ravens’ hopes of a Super Bowl ended on Sunday, January 28, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated them 17-10 in the AFC championship game. The Ravens’ offense was shut down and quarterback Lamar Jackson could not carry the team past its mistakes.
Describing how he felt, Jackson told reporters, “I’m not frustrated at all. I’m angry about losing.”
Not how we wanted it to end.
Despite the disappointment, Jackson said he was proud.
“We made it all the way to this point. Our goal is short, we made it here but we just gotta finish next time, but I’m very proud of my team.”
When he was asked about the future, he responded: “We’re going to build, this offseason, get better, grind and try to be in this position again, but on the other side.”
Ravens’ Offense Made Too Many Mistakes vs. Chiefs
The story of the game may be a “what if” for the Ravens. It appeared every time that Baltimore gained momentum, a critical mistake swung the momentum back in favor of the Chiefs.
When the Chiefs took a 14-7 lead on RB Isiah Pacheco’s run, the Ravens needed an answer to keep it close. Instead, left tackle Ronnie Stanley got beat on the edge, giving defensive end Charles Omenihu an opening to sack Jackson and force a fumble that was recovered by the Chiefs at the Baltimore 33-yard line.
THE CHIEFS FORCE A LAMAR JACKSON FUMBLE
However, the key moment that put the Ravens in a deep hole came at the end of the third quarter. With about 50 seconds left in the quarter, Jackson found rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers for a 54-yard completion that would have placed them at the Chiefs’ 10-yard line.
Instead, Flowers was called for a 15-yard penalty for taunting cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Jackson again found Flowers, but he fumbled at the 1-yard line resulting in a touchback instead of a scoring opportunity.
“We had a couple opportunities down there to score, and we didn’t get the touchdowns,” head coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “It was really a defensive struggle if you step back and look at the whole game. They were able to score the points and we weren’t.”
The final mistake came with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter when Jackson threw an interception while trying to force a pass through triple coverage to tight end Isaiah Likely in the end zone, even though the Ravens were in field goal range at the 25-yard line.
Defense Started Rough but Kept Baltimore Alive
The Ravens’ offense started off strong and struggled the rest of the game. On the other hand, the defense flipped the script.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and the offense started off strong by scoring two touchdowns against the vaunted Ravens defense on the first two drives. The second Chiefs drive was a 9-minute, 75-yard touchdown drive.
The defense was put in a precarious position after a sudden change following the fumble as the game was a touchdown away from getting out of hand early. They were able to force a fourth-and-1 stop, and from that point on the defense dominated only allowing 3 points the remainder of the game.
Ravens defense gets a clutch stop on 4th down!
📺: #KCvsBAL on CBS
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In the second half, the Chiefs had 5 offensive drives, they all resulted in punts.
The Ravens had 2.0 sacks on Mahomes, which were the first sacks of the playoffs on the QB. Roquan Smith, who had 16 total tackles in the game, spoke after and said, “Having a group of truly unselfish dudes… It’s hard to find that in football, let alone in life.”
The defense played their heart out like they did all season, but they will stew on the slow start for much of the offseason.