Chiefs’ halftime observations from Arrowhead: Kelce still hot, run defense still cold
At halftime, the Chiefs lead the Ravens 17-10. Here’s what we saw.
Keepin’ up with Kelce
The tight end picked right up where he left off in Oakland. He was instrumental in the Chiefs’ touchdown drive, making catches of 15 and 17 yards before drawing a pass interference call to set up Damien Williams’ touchdown run (more on that below). With 53 yards in the first quarter, Kelce surpassed 5,000 career receiving yards. And 17 of Mahomes’ 36 completions in the last two weeks have been to Kelce.
Kelce got into the end zone with 2:37 to go until halftime on a 15-yard pass from Mahomes to give the Chiefs a 14-10 lead.
At halftime, Kelce had five catches for 68 yards.
Oh, Hill no
Tyreek Hill left the field during the Chiefs’ first touchdown drive with an apparent left wrist injury. The speedy wide receiver looked to be in a lot of pain as he was evaluated on the sideline. Hill came back in the next series, but didn’t have another catch until midway through the second quarter.
Hill wasn’t the only injury in the first half. Left guard Cam Erving appeared to twist his knee with 6:18 to go in the second quarter. He tried to walk off the field, but had to get helped off. Jeff Allen came in for Erving at left guard while Erving went in the medical tent. Erving went to the locker room early and was listed as questionable to return with a knee injury.
Running back Spencer Ware also went to the locker room early when he landed awkwardly on his wrist falling out of bounds in the Chiefs’ final drive of the half after a 31-yard catch-and-run.
Get by with a little help from my friends
Patrick Mahomes finished the half completing 13 of 21 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown.
His spectacular completions to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce — including a 21-yard connection with Hill to convert a 3rd-and-19 — helped make up for a nine-yard sack he took in the second quarter. And in the first quarter, the Ravens’ top-ranked defense, chock full of pre-snap movement, seemed to rattle Mahomes a bit.
But with the help of his receivers, Mahomes settled in in the second quarter.
Run, Ravens, Run
The Ravens didn’t attempt a pass in their first scoring drive, running the ball seven times to set up Kenneth Dixon’s 2-yard touchdown run. On that drive, the Chiefs were gashed for carries of 14, 11 and 21 yards. On the next drive, though, the Chiefs held the Ravens at the 11-yard line thanks to big tackles from Derrick Nnadi and Justin Houston on back-to-back carries by Ty Montgomery.
At the end of the half, the Ravens had 110 rushing yards, and Lamar Jackson led the unit with 40 on 10 carries.
Missed chances
After the Chiefs stalled out at Baltimore’s 33, kicker Harrison Butker came on for a 51-yard field goal attempt. But the ball went wide right and the Chiefs lost out on a crucial scoring opportunity against an opponent that capitalizes on time of possession.
Welcome to the end zone
Damien Williams scored his fourth career touchdown — first since 2016, so first with the Chiefs — late in the first quarter to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.