Five things to know about the Kansas City Chiefs’ next opponent: Baltimore Ravens
The Chiefs’ first prime-time game of the 2021 season is Sunday night in Baltimore, a place where they played one of their best games a year ago.
After the Chiefs beat Baltimore 34-20 in a “Monday Night Football” game, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said Kansas City was “our kryptonite.”
Jackson is 0-3 against the Chiefs in his young career, and Kansas City will look to extend its winning streak against on Sunday at M&T Stadium.
Each week I take an early look at the Chiefs’ next opponent, and here are five things to know about the Baltimore Ravens, 0-1, before Sunday night’s game. Kickoff is at 7:20 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NBC (Ch. 41 in Kansas City):
1. A flock of injuries
Some teams are hit hard by injuries, but what’s happened to the Ravens is something far worse.
Baltimore opened the season with a whopping 12 players on injured reserve. Offensive lineman Tyre Phillips suffered a knee injury and was carted off during Monday night’s 33-27 overtime loss to the Raiders in Las Vegas.
The Ravens have three running backs on IR: Gus Edwards (torn ACL), J.K. Dobbins (torn ACL) and Justice Hill (Achilles tendon).
Former Raiders/Saints/Vikings running back Latavius Murray and ex-Ravens running back Devonta Freeman were signed by the Ravens. Ty’Son Williams made his presence known on Monday.
In his NFL debut, Williams scored the Ravens’ first touchdown, busting free on a fourth-and-1 play for a 35-yard scoring run.
Williams finished with 65 yards rushing in nine attempts against the Raiders, while Murray had 28 yards.
2. The former Chiefs
Another Ravens player who suffered a season-ending injury before the start of the opener is cornerback Marcus Peters, the former Chiefs star.
While Peters will miss Monday’s game, former Chiefs will be on both sides of the ball for Baltimore.
Justin Houston, who has the fourth-most sacks in Chiefs franchise history, signed as a free agent this summer with the Ravens. Ditto for Sammy Watkins, the former Chiefs wide receiver.
Watkins led the Ravens with 96 receiving yards on Monday and had four receptions, including this one:
3. Dual threat
Jackson had 1,005 rushing yards a year ago and 1,206 in 2019, and is the the first quarterback to top a thousand yards in two seasons. In Monday’s loss to the Raiders, Jackson led the Ravens with 86 yards rushing, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.
Jackson has thrown 62 touchdown passes over the last two years, and he added one more Monday. After rolling out of the pocket, Jackson found Marquise Brown for a 10-yard touchdown pass.
The downside for Jackson? He fumbled three times on Monday night and lost two of them. The last turnover led to the Raiders’ game-winning touchdown.
“That ticked me off. I hate any type of turnover,” Jackson told reporters. “Two hands on the football.”
4. The pass catchers
That touchdown reception was Brown’s sixth in his last seven games dating to last season. It’s little surprise he was thrown the ball, because Brown was Jackson’s favorite target a year ago.
He led the Ravens in receiving yards (769) and touchdown catches (eight) in 2020. On Monday, Brown had a team-most six receptions.
Tight end Mark Andrews, who had 58 receptions for 701 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago, caught three passes for 20 yards against the Raiders.
5. The defense
The Ravens are known for their defense, and there are a number of players to watch on that side of the ball.
Linebacker Patrick Queen, who led the team with 105 tackles, was the only rookie last year with 100 or more and three or more sacks, the NFL said. On Monday, he had six tackles, a sack, a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss.
Defensive end Calais Campbell has 92 career sacks. Cornerback Marlon Humphrey has had 10 or more passes defended in each of the last four years, and he forced eight fumbles last season.
But the Ravens defense faltered late on Monday. On their final five drives, the Raiders scored three touchdowns, kicked a field goal and had an interception. The latter came in the end zone after Las Vegas drove to the Baltimore 1-yard line.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 9:18 AM.
