Ravens tackle on facing the Chiefs: to be the best, you have to beat the best
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Ravens players are keenly aware that they haven’t beaten the Chiefs in meetings the previous two seasons.* The Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV victory is also not lost on the Baltimore players.
*The Chiefs have won three straight in the series with Baltimore’s last victory coming in 2012
The Ravens, who had the AFC’s best record a year ago, will get a chance to turn their fortunes against the Chiefs on Monday night. That’s when Baltimore will play host to the Chiefs.
Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley was asked by reporters this week if the team feels it has to go through the Chiefs to get to the Super Bowl.
“Oh, yes,” Stanley said in a call with reporters. “We know they’re the defending Super Bowl champions. So, to play at that top level, to get to the best of the best, you have to beat the best. And right now, that’s them coming off of the year they came off of.”
Stanley said although the Ravens have lost the last two games against the Chiefs, he doesn’t believe Baltimore needs to show it can defeat KC on Monday.
“(It’s) not to prove to ourselves that we can, I think we know we can. I think it’s more because that’s what we expect out of ourselves, week-in and week-out,” Stanley said. “No matter who it is, we feel like we have to win that game. We feel like it’s a make-it or break-it game. With that mentality, it’s just going to make us mentally stronger and more capable down the line.”
Here are what other Ravens players and coaches were saying about Monday’s game (via transcriptions from the team).
Cornerback Marlon Humphrey
Everybody in the football world is saying they’ve been anticipating Ravens- Chiefs. As players, does this game have a different feel than others?
“For me, it’s a different feel because it’s on Monday. It’s ‘Monday Night Football,’ prime time, the Chiefs, Super Bowl champs. It’s really all the things you want when it comes to playing the best team in the league last year — prime time stage. As far as different than the rest; there are going to be a lot of big games, but every game is pretty big. We’re just mainly trying to take it one game at a time. Like you said, even though you try to take that approach, it is a little tougher when it comes to the Chiefs.”
What’s it like trying to prepare for QB Patrick Mahomes? He’s a guy who’s so accurate, he reads defenses so well, he’s fundamental, but he also might throw a no-look pass. He’s so creative and special in that way. What’s it like, and what do you try to key in on?
“For (Patrick) Mahomes, I think you said it best. He has all these tools, and he has so much talent around him. He actually completed that no-look pass on me. That started that whole journey, so I’ve seen that clip so many times on social media. It always seems to come up somewhere. But with Mahomes, as good as he is in the pocket, he’s just as good — probably better — outside the pocket, which is the craziest thing about his game. So, preparing for him, it’s really tough. You can’t really say any team has really just been able to just stop him completely. He’s never really out of a game. You see (them) go up on the Texans (in the playoffs) — two touchdowns, three touchdowns — and they come right back. He’s never really out of the game until they lose a game, and they don’t lose too many. So, it will be tough. I trust in (defensive coordinator Don) ‘Wink’ (Martindale) in whatever game plan he’s going to have, and we’ll figure it out and get going.”
Quarterback Lamar Jackson
How important is it to you — after two really dramatic games with the Chiefs — to change the narrative, flip the script and come out on top? They’re likely the team you have to get through to get to a Super Bowl, so is it important to make a statement in Week Three? Or is it, “Hey, it’s just Week Three, so we’ll just wait and see?”
“Oh, when we go into the game, it’s always a statement. It’s any given Sunday, any given Monday, Thursday — whenever you play. When we go into the game, like I said, we’re going to focus on our assignment, focus on doing what we’re supposed to do, which is go win that game. That’s what our goal is.”
Do you think it’s too early — being it’s Week Three — to think about the ramifications of this game, like homefield advantage (in the playoffs)?
“Yes, we’re focusing on winning this game. (O)ur goal is beating the Chiefs right now. They’re the only ones in our way for on and on in the season right now. We just have to focus on beating them — that’s all.”
Knowing that the Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl Champions and knowing where you want to take this team — obviously, to the Super bowl, to the playoffs — do you feel that you have to eventually beat the Chiefs?
“Yes, eventually. And they’re in our way right now, so that’s our goal.”
Obviously, I know you’re not playing against QB Patrick Mahomes, but you guys are two of the faces of the league right now — both back-to-back MVPs. To you, is it special to be in something that could develop into a rivalry and to be looked at as two of the faces of the league?
“Yes, it’s really cool. I’m going against a great talent like him — a guy who can throw the ball anywhere he wants on the field and make things happen each and every game. It’s very exciting — very exciting.”
Safety Chuck Clark
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — he plays, in a lot of ways, like a wide receiver, but he’s also still big and can also be pretty physical, too. As far as tight ends who you have to deal with, where does he rank? What makes him, specifically, so challenging?
“He’s the best in the game right now — one of the best in the game. And he can do it all: he can run routes — he’s a savvy route runner — he can catch the ball, yards after the catch, he does it all. So, that’s what makes him one of the best in the game right now.”
Coach John Harbaugh
A lot of talk centers around quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs passing game, but they’ve got a pretty good running attack. The rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, what has he added to that running attack and how has he boosted them?
“He’s kind of right in the same style that they love. They love backs that are explosive, big play capability, make (players) miss. He can lower his shoulder; he’s a powerful guy. (He has) good hands out of the backfield, so he’s a threat on screens and really every kind of route. They were running flat routes with him. They were running rail routes with him, crossing routes (where they) leak him across the other way. All the different things they do with their backs, they do with him. He fits right in. He’s kind of taken over that main role. Of course, they have some experienced guys there and they kind of play them situationally by skill-set a little bit. But he looks like an every-down back. He’s been doing it for two weeks now. He looks really good.”
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 12:08 PM.
