Pundit Says Ravens Have the Offense That Can Beat Chiefs in the Playoffs
Coming off another convincing victory in prime time, the Ravens are again being hailed as the biggest threats to the Kansas City Chiefs' dynasty.
There was similar talk last season, all the way up to the AFC Championship Game, which the top-seeded Ravens lost at home to the Chiefs. After dropping this year's season opener in Kansas City, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are now 1-5 against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
However, Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano believes this really could be the year the Ravens knock off the Chiefs – who are looking to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls – because of how much the offense has evolved.
"These Ravens are different from the team that put up last year's playoff dud against the Chiefs and much improved since the Week 1 loss in Kansas City," Manzano wrote. "Finally, the Ravens didn't need [Derrick] Henry or Jackson to carry the team. Yes, both were very good, but what transpired Monday night was a complete, full-team destruction of the Buccaneers, one of the better teams in the NFC before they ran into the Ravens.
"Henry didn't make an impact until he galloped for an 81-yard run late in the third quarter before Jackson found Mark Andrews in the end zone for a 34–10 advantage. Henry played closer, Andrews is a reliable pass catcher again and Rashod Bateman has developed into a consistent playmaker. The Ravens do have a concern with Zay Flowers's ankle injury, but the depth lifted the offense without the No. 1 wide receiver on the field. Again, offensive depth wasn't yet established in Week 1."
The Chiefs (6-0) are the only undefeated team in the NFL largely because of their elite defense. Their offense is ranked 13th in scoring, and Manzano said the Chiefs' current recipe for winning games might not work against the high-scoring Ravens offense.
"Yes, we've seen the Chiefs vs. Ravens movie before. But just like how many people pay to watch 10 movies of the Fast and Furious franchise, many will be rooting to see Jackson and Henry get another crack at [Defensive Coordinator Steve] Spagnuolo's defense come January, especially after what they did Monday night," Manzano wrote.
NFL.com's Jeffri Chadiha doesn't see any team, including the Chiefs, stopping the Ravens.
"I just don't know how you stop this offense right now. They are destroying teams," Chadiha said. "I know the Chiefs beat them in Week 1. If they saw the Chiefs right now it would not be the same result. This team is on fire and right now I think they're going to win the AFC the way they're playing."
ESPN's Pat McAfee also thinks this could be the year Jackson and the Ravens get over the hump.
"This team is built to go. This team's deep, too. They are deep at very important positions," McAfee said. "It looks like this could be the team that does it. Man, they would be fun. The world that watches the Super Bowl and no other games, getting a chance to watch Lamar Jackson would be sweet, and getting a chance to watch Derrick Henry would be sweet. Imagine people in some country that don't speak our language turning on the Super Bowl and Derrick Henry starts running, and they go, 'What is that? We don't have any of those.' And then Lamar starts shaking and sliding and they're like, 'When did they add this to football?'"
The Chiefs have reportedly gotten better this week, as they are finalizing a trade for veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, per multiple outlets.
Colin Cowherd Says Jackson, Not Mahomes, Is the 'Best Football Player on the Planet'
The pundits are in agreement that no one is playing at a higher level this season than Jackson, not even Mahomes, who is in the GOAT conversation.
"Lamar Jackson right now is the best football player on the planet. Not Patrick Mahomes," Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd said. "Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback. Lamar is the best overall player."
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky contended that Jackson is the best quarterback as well.
"Lamar, by far, is the guy right now that doesn't have a real weakness to his game," Orlovsky said. "You've seen the twitchy element of his athleticism that was part of the conversation early in his career. It's gone to two different areas. His mind is crazy twitchy right now; game is very slow for him. And then the arm is crazy twitchy now. He's very complete as a quarterback."
ESPN's Ben Solak said that watching Jackson now feels like how watching Mahomes used to feel.
"Vaulting Jackson into Mahomes' air is a silly thing to do because Mahomes is the most talented quarterback to walk the Earth. But I'm going to do it anyway," Solak wrote. "And it's not about stats, though Jackson is posting some preposterous numbers. It's about gravity. We know what it is when a star player walks onto a field, court or pitch. They create new circumstances for their offenses, environments that can be neither replicated with similar players nor reproduced in the aggregate. They force defenses, who have drilled techniques, strategies and schemes for months, to play a slightly different version of the sport they've prepared to play -- just different enough to break the math, destroy the scheme and negate the technique.
"Jackson has gravity. Even as the scheme and the playmakers around him have improved, you can still tell that the offensive universe in Baltimore is heliocentric, held together by the sheer force of Jackson. What is happening in Baltimore is different than when 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was putting up historic efficiency numbers last season, or when Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow beat Mahomes in a couple games in 2021. The difference is in the miracle plays that no other quarterback could conjure. And it's in the mundane plays that are allowed by the defense because they're so fearful of those miracles. Jackson's mere presence on the field warps defensive structure, creates rushing lanes, puts linebackers in binds, opens receivers and slows pass rushers. It's not just that he can do things no other quarterback can do; it's that the entire Ravens offense can do stuff that no other offense can do, simply because he's the quarterback of it."
Ravens Made Smart Decisions in Offseason 'As Usual'
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said the Ravens are ascending largely because of decisions they made in the offseason.
"They've relied on young offensive linemen in Daniel Faalele, Roger Rosengarten and Andrew Vorhees, second-year inside linebacker Trenton Simpson and 32-year-old defensive coordinator Zach Orr to take seats this year that were previously held by veterans," Breer wrote. "When it looked a bit uneven in September, Baltimore pushed forward. And here they are now. Behind that offensive line, the Ravens rushed for 244 yards Monday night, and Lamar Jackson's 158.1 passer rating was 0.2 points off from perfect while he threw for a career-high five touchdowns. Simpson had eight tackles, one for a loss, playing next to Roquan Smith. Orr's defense, meanwhile, stemmed the tide of a rough start with two picks in the second quarter, one in the end zone, that turned the momentum of the game.
"Even better, all that young talent should keep getting better from here on out. Turns out, Baltimore knew what it was doing in March and April. As usual."
