The Ravens went through a stretch where it felt like no one could beat them. As it turns out, there was still one team that could: the Ravens.
Kansas City was not its usual dominant postseason self. The Chiefs mustered just 17 points, the second-fewest points they’ve scored in the Patrick Mahomes era, trailing only the nine points in a Super Bowl loss to the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. They did not score at all in the second half against Baltimore on Sunday.
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That sounds like a formula for success for the Ravens. However, Baltimore had a game littered with self-inflicted penalties and miscues, several of which were costly. In the end, they were crucial in the 17-10 defeat for a Ravens’ squad that ended a 13-4 campaign in disappointment while the Chiefs are going to a fourth Super Bowl in the Mahomes era.
The Ravens were fortunate to escape some of their mistakes with no damage — Jackson fumbled early and Jadeveon Clowney collected a roughing the passer penalty after lowering his helmet into Mahomes — but there were plenty that will loom large when Baltimore reflects on a season that came up short of a title.
Penalties were a problem for this reasons throughout the night. They had five 15-yard penalties and finished with eight penalties for 95 penalty yards overall.
Two of the most costly penalties came on the same drive. The Ravens and Chiefs had exchanged punts on three straight drives, as both offenses appeared to stall, and after a one-yard run by Isiah Pacheco to start the Chiefs’ drive inside the two-minute warning of the first half, it appeared Baltimore would keep the trend going.
Then Travis Kelce and the defense started getting into a scrum. There was plenty of jawing between both sides before Kyle Van Noy thumped his helmet into Kelce’s, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Chiefs a free 15 yards and first down up to the Kansas City 27.
The Chiefs were then about to face a 3rd-and-5 when Mahomes threw an incompletion to Rashee Rice. However, defensive tackle Travis Jones hit the helmet of Mahomes as he was throwing, and he was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty.
Those 30 combined yards of penalty yards helped Kansas City get into field-goal range before the end of the half after starting at its own 11. The field goal proved to be the final points the Chiefs would score.
The Ravens’ final drive of the third quarter was the “Zay Flowers drive.” He did everything right. He did everything wrong.
Flowers began the drive with a 54-yard catch to take the Ravens from the Baltimore 36 to the Kansas City 10. The only problem was that afterward, he pushed down the defender and spun the ball in his face as he stood over them and drew an obvious taunting penalty, which moved the gain back 15 yards to the Chiefs’ 25.
He then caught a 14-yard pass, and after a two-yard pickup by Rashod Bateman, Jackson again looked to the rookie wide receiver. Flowers caught a short pass and streaked for the end zone, but as he reached across, the ball was punched out by L’Jarius Sneed and recovered in the end zone by Kansas City.
To make matters worse, after Flowers’ error, he punched the bench, injuring his hand.
It’s hard to win with one red-zone turnover. Another, trailing by two scores in the fourth quarter, is even worse.
Jackson’s interception might have been the worst of three turnovers. Tight end Isiah Likely was streaking over the middle of the field and waving his hand signaling he was open for a throw. The problem was that he was not remotely open. There were three defenders on him.
“I see both of [the safeties] trailing him and I didn’t want to throw it all out the end zone, I just tried to let him turn around and make a play,” Jackson said after the game. “I thought it was going to be PI, but it is what it is. The safety made a great play and made the interception.”
That gave Kansas City the ball at the 20-yard line with 6:45 to play, and though the Chiefs went three-and-out, it was a drive that could have ended in points for Baltimore. Instead, it was another empty trip late in the game.
The Ravens kicked a field goal with 2:34 left to make it a seven-point game. They still had two timeouts. Rather than attempt an onside kick, which has had a limited success rate, Baltimore put the trust back in its defense.
There was merit to the decision. Kansas City had only racked up three first downs in the second half and had not scored. Baltimore appeared well positioned to potentially halt the Chiefs, force a quick three-and-out, and get the ball back after the two-minute warning.
But the errors kept piling up on the final drive. On first down, the Ravens inexplicably had 12 men on the field to bring up a 1st-and-5. Then Roquan Smith jumped offside, a move that was likely intentional to keep the Chiefs from having an easier first-down attempt from short yardage, but he plowed into the offensive lineman hard enough to draw an unnecessary roughness penalty and give the Chiefs 15 yards rather than the five.
The Ravens had a chance to get off the field after the Smith error, however, as the Chiefs faced a 3rd-and-9 with the fate of the game on the line. Somehow, Marquez Valdes-Scantling leaked behind the secondary and was wide open for a game-sealing 32-yard catch that ended the game for Kansas City, as the Chiefs were able to kneel out the remainder of the contest.
Make no mistake, the Chiefs played well and earned their way to Super Bowl 58, but the Ravens didn’t do themselves any favors by helping Kansas City so much.
