During their 14-game regular-season winning streak, the Ravens have started the fourth quarter with the lead 12 times. They have been superb at taking leads, then protecting them.
However, the Ravens know the Kansas City Chiefs won't panic if Baltimore jumps to a lead Monday night, because Patrick Mahomes is the comeback king among NFL quarterbacks.
According to Elias Sports, Mahomes has won an NFL record six straight times when trailing by double digits, including the playoffs.
Mahomes brought the Chiefs back again last week, overcoming a 17-6 deficit in the third quarter to win, 23-20, in overtime against the Los Angeles Chargers. Two seasons ago in Kansas City, the Ravens had the Chiefs on the ropes leading 24-17 in the fourth quarter before Mahomes made a ridiculous fourth-down completion to Tyreek Hill in the final two minutes of regulation. That set up a game-tying touchdown and the Chiefs won, 27-24, in overtime.
Against Mahomes and the Chiefs, it's never over until it's over.
"They're kind of fearless," Head Coach John Harbaugh said. "When they get down, they just go for it and they've got the players to do it. Pat Mahomes, he's a great playmaker and he's got great pocket presence. He's going to move around the pocket and find a play out there. When you're down, I think it kicks in even more."
The Ravens still want to set follow their usual pattern of grabbing an early lead, a formula that has worked for them consistently. However, the key will be keeping Mahomes from making big plays late that determine the game's outcome. With Baltimore's strong run game, it can typically wear down teams and maintain leads, as it did last week against Houston.
"Hopefully we can get them down," Harbaugh said. "If we get them down, we've got to try to keep them down by allowing those kind of plays to be made. That's why they're the champs."
Marcus Peters Chases Wins and Interceptions, Not Attention
Marcus Peters can make a legitimate case to call himself the NFL's best cornerback. He has certainly been the league's most opportunistic corner, with an NFL-high 28 interceptions since entering the league in 2016.
His latest pick against the Houston Texans in Week 2 was spectacular, displaying his athleticism and instincts.
Peters is a fierce competitor, and he loves matching up against elite wide receivers and shutting them down. However, he won't enter a debate about who is the league's top corner.
"I'm not going to get into that conversation of going back and forth about who's the best," Peters said. "Like I always say, I respect everybody who plays my position. The biggest thing for me to worry about is me and my team. I just make my plays. I'm not here to be into all the antics of who's the best, who does what. I'm doing things at a high level, and I enjoy doing it."
Lamar Jackson and Chuck Clark Disappointed With Decision Regarding Breonna Taylor
When the Ravens issued a statement on social justice Aug. 27, they called for police officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor to be arrested and charged. Taylor, an unarmed 26-year-old Black medical worker, was shot and killed in March by Louisville police officers during a botched raid on her apartment.
However, it was announced Wednesday by that none of the three officers who shot Taylor would be charged for causing Taylor's death. One officer was charged with wanton endangerment, and no other charges were filed against the other two officers.
Lamar Jackson played college football at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy and burst onto the national scene before joining the Ravens. Jackson sounded deeply disappointed about the lack of charges against the police officers involved in Taylor's death.
"When I got up this morning, I saw it on social media, of her not getting any justice," Jackson said. "We have other things in the world that get justice that don't really need justice, but people want to push that issue a lot more than our Black lives that matter, Breanna Taylor being one of them. So, it's crazy; we never get justice for serious things on our side. We're in America, where there should be freedom of speech – the 'Land of the Free' – but I don't really feel like it's been that way for us Black people sometimes. That's what I have to say about that."
Ravens safety Chuck Clark echoed Jackson's sentiments.
"We haven't talked about as a team yet, but personally it sucks," Clark said. "As a team, that was one of the first things we put out as our mission statement, to have those cops arrested. Just to hear the verdict that came down from that, there's no justice.
"It's almost like we, not just the Ravens, everyone across the country, we let her down in that situation. For somebody to be in their house asleep and for that to happen to them unarmed. It's as if we let her down. My prayers go out to her family."
Harbaugh Has Adjusted to Wearing Mask
While it may be uncomfortable at times for NFL coaches to wear masks on the sidelines, it can be expensive not to wear them.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, two head coaches were fined $100,000 for not wearing their masks frequently enough during Monday Night Football – of Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders and Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints. Earlier on Monday, three other teams – the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers – and their coaches were reportedly fined.
Harbaugh said he has grown accustomed to wearing a mask.
"It makes it a little more challenging to communicate," Harbaugh said. "We just really made an emphasis on it. We do it in practice, we do it in meetings. It's definitely a challenge, but it's also a requirement which we understand so we do our best to adhere to the requirement."
