Usually, I'm really optimistic and hopeful because there's another week of football where the Ravens can figure it out and rectify their issues. Fuck that this week.
To start, I hate blaming the referees because it's one of those things where you don't want something outside of your own control to control the game. Play well enough that they cannot influence the game.
With that said, fuck the referees. I'm generally really in favor of let the players play (like that no call DPI on OBJ where his arms got grabbed- no complaints.) But how do you not call that DPI on the Likely interception? I get it- he was throwing into triple coverage, but Lamar could have thrown into all 11 defenders and I'd still want DPI. You cannot have two guys tackling likely before the ball is even remotely there and not call it. And fuck Gene Steratore for trying to defend that like the ball was even close. It was not even remotely close. But that's a very game changing no call. The no call on the Isaiah Likely holding. That ended the Ravens with a field goal. Do things look a bit different with a touchdown? Do the Ravens get aggressive for an onside kick knowing a Chiefs field goal doesn't end the game? I don't know. I will also add, I find it really perplexing that the Chiefs, who I believe had a tackle lead the league in false starts, didn't get a single false start. The Bank was absolutely rocking, too. And absolutely fuck Travis Kelce. He was chirping and shoving guys all game, but we couldn't call a penalty on Taylor Swift's boyfriend. That'd ruin fan engagement. And especially fuck all the no calls on Chiefs pass rushers. Chris Jones is absolutely rattling players by the head and he gets no calls. On one of the sacks on Lamar, the Chiefs player had Lamar completely wrapped around the head, but hey, we don't care about excessive contact to the head or neck area unless it's Mahomes.
Honestly, if a rumor came out that the NFL is rigging games in favor of KC because they want Taylor Swift at the Super Bowl because of the fan engagement that she brings, I'd believe it. I wouldn't bat an eye at that rumor.
Now, with that all out of the way...
With the referees being as blind as they were, the mistakes were just too costly. The interception was killer when a field goal would have been enough to put you within one score. Just a terrible decision to throw it into triple coverage EVEN IF A FLAG WAS WARRANTED. Zay Flowers with the taunting that he probably doesn't get if he simply does everything facing away from the defender. You have to be smarter than to do it *on top of the player.* And I know it put them back on the 25 and they eventually got near the red zone, but there is a world of difference in play calling from the 10 and the 25 and it hurt. That puts the Ravens within three and then I don't think Lamar forces it into triple coverage.
Generally thought the offensive line was pretty poor. The Chiefs obviously had one of the premiere pass rushes in the NFL, but the offensive line got absolutely bullied. After giving me a lot of hope last week, Ronnie Stanley just looked porous again. Moses looked off. Simpson had a really rough game. Just absolutely tragic.
The receivers couldn't generate consistent separation to save their lives. After seeing a lot of blatant missed holding and DPI, I'm wondering how much was the Chiefs being allowed to play more than they should have been, but I digress.
I don't understand Monken's thought process with the run game. Willie Gay, the Chiefs primary QB spy, is out. The Chiefs have the 28th ranked rush defense. At what point do you not try to run it? I don't care if it was Hill, Gus, or Lamar running- more running needed to take place. That's a straight fire-able offense. I just don't get how someone would look at the Chiefs defense which ranked very highly in terms of pass defense and pass rush and so lowly in terms of rush defense and thought passing was the ideal option, especially after coming off a game where you rushed for almost 250 yards. I think the running game would have gone a long way toward slowing the blitz and creating favorable down and distance.
For a little there in the second half, it seemed like Monken was going to use a couple swing passes to help create the running game without needing to hand it off, but I think it ended after the second one. Just baffling play calling decisions.
As far as Lamar goes- not a really great game, but I find it hard to place too much blame on him. Receivers couldn't get open, offensive line was a sieve mostly, and the running game wasn't called upon. The deck was stacked against him. Still, he was more inaccurate than we'd seen from him in weeks and just generally looked off. I think Lamar is generally great at creating off script and making magic happen, and several times it looked like he would, but just not his best night.
Defensively, they really settled in. I can't complain about the second half at all. I have to wonder how much of the offensive play calling and panic came from them getting dogwalked in the first half, though. Pass rush was non existent, run defense was inconsistent, and the pass defense was getting picked apart. Was really frustrating how the pass rush didn't maintain gap integrity. Mahomes isn't nearly the athlete that Lamar is, but he loves to scramble. Getting out of their rushing lanes so easily just opened it up to Mahomes extending plays or picking up first downs with his legs.
In the second half, the Ravens seemed to go with much more man coverage and tried to stifle the Chiefs receivers at the line of scrimmage and it worked, so I'm not sure why that call wasn't made much sooner.
Honestly, not a huge fan of the final play call by MacDonald. The pass rush hasn't been hitting consistently all night. Why send the house? I mean, I suppose he felt it was a damned if you do, damned if you don't, but I would have rather played with several in the secondary and hope that you make the tackle short of the sticks.
As far as the pass rush goes- I get that the Chiefs have a really good interior, but I had asked this question last week: What will the pass rush look like when the Ravens aren't generating huge leads? What will it look like when opponents aren't in unfavorable down and distance? Well, we just got our answer- they sucked ass.
I'm really glad Duvernay is a free agent, honestly. I cannot stand how often he misjudges handling a punt and just calling a fair catch. He may generate good yardage on his returns, as he did on one today, but he is giving up so much field position by his inability to field clean fair catches.
Overall, this is heartbreaking because I really don't think this team is back next year. I think they're going to bleed way too much talent in free agency. They've just got too many contracts that aren't paying off this season (Marlon had a down year, Stanley has been dead weight, Williams constantly being injured) and the cap is just getting too tight. Might need to see a soft reset and gear up for 2025.
The worst part of all of this, though? I won't watch the Super Bowl this year. I'm too heartbroken by this Ravens team and disgusted with the Kansas City Swifts. I don't want to watch it.
