Arrowhead Pride
Zay Flowers was the early spark for the Baltimore Ravens, converting two critical third downs with gains of 26 and 24 yards to push the Ravens deep into the Kansas City Chiefs’ territory on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. He hauled in three catches on the opening drive, quickly establishing himself as the focal point of the offense.
But after all that momentum, the Ravens stalled inside the Kansas City 12-yard line and had to settle for a field goal.
On the Chiefs’ first possession, something stood out that has been seen only rarely: the offensive line won the battle up front in the running game. Isiah Pacheco ripped off key gains on the ground, as the line consistently pushed back the Ravens’ front four.
With the run setting the tone, the passing game opened up. Tyquan Thornton hauled in four catches on the drive, including a post route over the middle where Patrick Mahomes put a friendly touch on the ball that allowed Thornton to get into the end zone.
End of first quarter: Chiefs 7, Ravens 3
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson was sacked hard by Kansas City’s Chris Jones, but that didn’t slow him down. On the very next play, Jackson — on the move — slid to the side of the pocket and launched a deep ball that dropped perfectly into the hands of DeAndre Hopkins, who beat single coverage for a 54-yard touchdown.
Mahomes answered by spreading the ball around. He hit JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down, found Xavier Worthy for 23 yards over the middle on third down and connected with Pacheco on a designed screen. Mahomes even lowered his shoulder, diving headfirst to pick up a yard and move the chains.
Right after the two-minute warning, Smith-Schuster broke free on an in-route pass at the back of the end zone, once again giving Kansas City the lead.
The Chiefs’ defense kept the pressure on. Jones swallowed up Jackson for an 11-yard sack, George Karlaftis forced him to throw out of another and Jaden Hicks jarred the ball loose from Rashod Bateman on what could have been a big third-down conversion. The Ravens were forced to punt it back with just over a minute left in the half.
Kansas City capitalized before halftime, adding three more points with Harrison Butker’s 32-yard field goal.
End of second quarter: Chiefs 17, Ravens 10*
Pacheco got into Ravens territory with a screen pass.
On first down, the Chiefs’ right tackle Jawaan Taylor was flagged for holding. On the next play, Kansas City went back to the screen game, but this time the Ravens defense sniffed it out for a four-yard loss.
The Chiefs’ offense worked its way to a fourth-and-4, where Mahomes found Thornton on an in-route. Thornton made the catch but was stopped two yards short of the marker.
The Ravens took over near midfield and leaned on the legs of Derrick Henry and the hands of...
