Mistakes Lead to Ravens Heartbreaking Loss Against Chiefs

Sunday started out as a special day as the Ravens go set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in the franchises first home AFC championship game. But while the day started off with so much hope and promise, by the end it was met with sadness and the thought of what could have been for this seasons Ravens team.

The Ravens struggled all around in the first half as the Ravens defense allowed the Chiefs to score on their first two offensive drives as Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes found his tight end Travis Kelce for a 19-yard score to get the scoring going. The Ravens would follow up the Chiefs score with one of their own as Lamar Jackson would find Zay Flowers for a 30-yard diving catch to tie the game at seven with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter.

But once again the Chiefs would find the end zone as running back Isiah Pacheco capped off a 16-play 75-yard drive with a two-yard run right up the middle to give the Chiefs back the lead. A Chiefs strip sack fumble of Jackson on the Ravens next offensive possession nearly led to more Chiefs points, but a stop by the Ravens defense on fourth and short from the Ravens own 13-yard line kept the game within seven.

The remainder of the first half remained fairly uneventful as the two teams traded punts before the Chiefs kicked a late 52-yard field goal to give them a 17-7 lead into halftime.

While it was probably the worst half of football the Ravens had played all year they were still within striking distance down just 10 points. Things looked promising as the Ravens defenses forced the Chiefs to punt on their first two drives of the second half. However, while the Ravens defense had adjusted the Ravens offense was continuing to falter. The turnovers carried over into the second half, but the one that really took a lot of energy out of the stadium was the fumble by Zay Flowers. Jackson found Flowers across the middle and what looked like a clean touchdown, Flowers dove for the goal line, but Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed punched the ball away before Flowers could score. Instead of a 17-14 Chiefs lead it still remained a 17-10 Chiefs lead early in the fourth quarter.

After the Flowers fumble much hope felt lost that the Ravens would be able to recover and make a comeback. But after forcing another Chiefs punt the Ravens would desperately need some kind points. Starting at their own one-yard line Jackson would muster up a drive that would get the Ravens down to the Chiefs 36-yard line. On second down Jackson looked for the end zone throwing it to tight end Isaiah Likely. The pass was a bit short as Likely was bumped off his route leading to a Deon Bush interception, Jackson’s first interception and the Ravens third turnover of the game.

Following another Chiefs punt after their interception, the Ravens were able to cut the Chiefs led to three with 2:34 left to play after a Justin Tucker 43-yard field goal. The Ravens took the field again needing to come up with just one more stop to give Jackson and the Ravens offense a chance to send the game to overtime. After two short carries the Chiefs faced a third down and nine to go. Mahomes dropped back throwing it deep to his receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling for the game sealing first down, down to the Ravens 22-yard line. The Chiefs will now get set to take on the San Francisco 49ers in two weeks in the Super Bowl, while the Ravens will take some time off before coming back together to prepare for what lies ahead next season.

The Ravens poor offensive game plan that saw the Ravens running backs carry the ball only six times all game as well as the Ravens defense inability to come up with critical plays in critical moments, specifically on third down, and despite giving up no points in the second half, all helped contribute to the defeat on Sunday. It’s a tough pill for this Ravens team to swallow as this year they had remained largely healthy throughout and were able to once again secure the AFCs number one seed, but failed to reach the ultimate goal.

While the 2023 season did not end the way the way fans and the team wanted, the Ravens will get back to work in the coming months in order to make sure they get back to and finish the job in 2024. It won’t be easy though as several contributors to this years team will likely be gone in free agency, meaning GM Eric DeCosta will have to work his magic through the draft and lure in other free agents to get this team over the hump in the playoffs.

Games Notes:

Linebacker Roquan Smith led all Ravens with 16 total tackles.

Wide receiver Zay Flowers led all Ravens with 115 receiving yards.

The Ravens out gained the Chiefs 336-319.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson led all Ravens with 54 yards rushing.

Ravens had eight penalties for 95 yards.