Chiefs prediction: NFL’s best face off when Chiefs meet Ravens. QBs sure, but also ...
The Chiefs-Ravens games over the previous two years have been decided by a total of eight points, so the game on Monday Night Football could come down to a kick. If it does, bet on it being made.
For all the talk about the quarterback matchup between the previous two MVPs, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (2019) and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes (2018), the contest also pits the two most accurate kickers in NFL history.
Baltimore’s Justin Tucker tops the list at 90.909 percent. He’s made 270 or 297 attempts over his nine seasons. Second is the Chiefs Harrison Butker. He’s at 90.170 percent in his four seasons. having made 101 of his 112 attempts.
Butker won the AFC’s special-teams weekly award for his effort in Sunday’s victory at the L.A. Chargers, when he banged through a 58-yard field goal that gave the Chiefs a 23-20 overtime triumph. It was his second 58-yarder of the game. Those are career bests and matches the franchise record. Tucker’s career long is 61.
Don’t count on the game to turn on a missed kick.
Kickoff: 7:15 p.m. (Central)
TV/radio: ESPN, KMBC (Ch. 9), WDAF (106.5 FM)
Line: Ravens by 3 1/2
Blair Kerkhoff’s prediction: Ravens 30-27
Ravens Coach John Harbaugh had this to say about the Chiefs’ ability to mount a comeback. The Chiefs have won six straight games in which they’ve trailed by double digits, including last weekend’s game at the Chargers and all three playoff games last season.
“One of the big things is, they’re kind of fearless,” Harbaugh said. “When they get down, they just go for it, and they have the players to do it ... when you’re down I think it kicks in even more.”
That’s about the highest compliment a coach can pay to the opposition.