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Thursday night. Arrowhead. Banners ready to be dropped. A crowning of champions. And on the other side of the field, a team, and a quarterback, who believe this night should’ve been theirs.
OPEN WOUNDS
Let’s go back just 7 months ago, when these two teams – the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens – met in the AFC Championship. That game, unlike this one, was in the Raven’s house. It was their moment. They had looked dominant all season long, drumming anyone you can think of, from the eventual Super Bowl loser 49ers to the high-flying Dolphins; from the surprising Houston Texans to the gritty, bite-your-kneecaps Detroit Lions.
But then that moment came, and yet again, they were the Lamborghini being taken away on a tow truck. It’s not as if the Chiefs offense, which scored their fewest points per game (21.8) of the Patrick Mahomes era, was firing. They only mustered up 17 points, a number which, on paper, the regular season Ravens would’ve eaten clean off the bone. It wasn’t the regular season, though, it was the playoffs against the champs, and what would’ve been a signature moment for eventual league MVP Lamar Jackson turned into a house of horrors.
LAMARVELOUS? NOT AGAINST EVERYONE
I want to take it back to Thursday night, and with a microscope on that name – Lamar Jackson. Jackson, not Mahomes, or Travis Kelce, or anyone else, is the most interesting player taking the field.
After another great regular season – 4499 total yards, 29 total touchdowns – he won his second league MVP, becoming one of only 11 NFL players ever to win the award multiple times. The Ravens, as a team, went 13-4 and comfortably secured the number one seed in the AFC.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1755800020224512272
This success hasn’t been unusual for Baltimore with Jackson as their signal-caller – the quarterback has won 72% of his career games. So they’ll be fine win or lose on Thursday, right?
Well… that 72% is nice, except for when you take a deeper look at his record against the one team he’s struggled most against. He’s 1-4 against that team. That team, of course, is those same Kansas City Chiefs.
Ravens vs Chiefs preview:
Last time the ravens played the Chiefs.
The AFC championship game:
Ravens stats:
Lamar Jackson 20/37 272yds 1TD & 1INT
Lamar Jackson 8CAR 54yds
Zay Flowers 119yds 5rec 1TD
Roquan Smith 16 total tackles & 5 solo
Kyle Hamilton 11 TOT & 9 solo with 1… pic.twitter.com/wNZxq7yyDe— Crumbletakes (@Crumbletakes) September 3, 2024
In those five games, he’s got a completion percentage of 55.7%, an 8-6 touchdown to interception ratio and a 78.1 passer rating. For reference, that completion percentage is his worst against any opponent.
TALE OF TWO SEASONS
So, what if the Ravens lose this Thursday? Mentally, it could be crippling. It could even spell out a doomed season. Check out this stat: Since 2012, six teams have lost their season opener to the team that beat them in the playoffs the previous year (Ravens loss on Thursday would add them to this list). Of those six, five outright missed the playoffs and only one, the 2013 Green Bay Packers, made the playoffs just to lose in the first round.
There is a world, as unfathomable as it might seem right now given how good the Ravens looked last year, where they’re not competing come January.
On the flip side, what could a win bring? Well, just look at what happened for the Detroit Lions last year when they won their season opener against a Chiefs team coming off a Super Bowl win. That game told them and the world they’re for real, and it propelled them to their best season in decades.
Lamar and the Ravens getting past their big bully could have that same effect.
The best part about sports is that we will find out which way Baltimore’s season goes. Whether it’s good or bad, this season could change public perception on the franchise and its quarterback for the foreseeable future.
