Gametime: Sunday, September 22, 2019
Location: Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO
Network Provider: CBS
Radio (Kansas City residence): Chiefs Fox Football Radio Network KCFX (101.1 FM)
Preview
After nearly a month on the road, the Chiefs (2-0) finally come home to Arrowhead Stadium for their home opener against the Baltimore Ravens (2-0).
Week 3 will be a rematch from the last time these two teams faced each other back in December. The Ravens had that game in hand, up by a touchdown, but it quickly slipped away late in the fourth with Patrick Mahomes throwing across his body to complete a deep pass to Tyreek Hill on fourth and nine to keep the drive alive. The Chiefs would score a touchdown, a five-yard pass to Damien Williams, sending the game to overtime and it would be Harrison Butker kicking the game-winning field goal to seal the game for Kansas City.
Sunday will be a little different for the Chiefs this time around, with Hill being absent for the second straight game and left tackle Eric Fisher will not play after having core muscle surgery on Thursday. Cameron Irving will be plugged in at left tackle for the next few weeks while Fisher is out.
Since the start of last season, the Chiefs have conducted the best offense in the National Football League, averaging 431 yards per game while Baltimore has built the best defense in the league, allowing an average of 290 yards per game.
Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson currently stand as the only two quarterbacks in the NFL this season with seven touchdowns and no interceptions through two games.
Jackson has been a major storyline because of his arm talent and his athletic ability to run with the football in wins against the Dolphins and Cardinals. While Mahomes is coming off a stellar performance in the second quarter against the Oakland Raiders, earning AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Though Kansas City will be without Tyreek Hill, who played a big part in the last victory over Baltimore, the Chiefs still have plenty of targets for Mahomes to get the ball to.
Kansas City has had a way of forcing opposing defenses to pick their poison in each of the previous two games, having a different receiver go on to have the best game of their careers.
For Jacksonville, it was Sammy Watkins, who had a career day against the Jaguars in Week 1 with 11 targets, 9 catches for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns.
In Week 2, it was Demarcus Robinson’s turn against Oakland to have the best game of his career with 6 receptions for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Who Mahomes favors in Week 3 against a tough Baltimore defense will be something to watch on Sunday.
On the other side, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson has exceeded expectations as a pocket passer. His two favorite targets through the first couple weeks have been receiver Marquise Brown, who has 12 receptions off 18 targets for 233 yards and two touchdowns and tight end Mark Andrews, who has been a reliable target with 16 receptions for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
Nobody else on the Ravens has more than six targets nor fifty yards receiving.
Defensively, the Chiefs will need to pay extra special attention to both players to prevent their secondary from getting burned too often.
Kansas City will also need to keep an eye on Lamar Jackson at all times because of his scrabbling ability. So far, Jackson is averaging 6.6 yards per carry with 126 yards on 19 scrambling attempts. He finished last season with 695 yards on 147 scrambles and 5 rushing touchdowns as a rookie. Keeping Jackson in the pocket and forcing him to beat them with his arm should be part of the Chiefs defensive strategy.
Last December, Kansas City’s defense did a good job bringing the heat and kept Jackson in the pocket, not allowing him to scramble for a positive gain. Jackson was blitzed nine times creating five quarterback hurries and two sacks.
Look for Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to turn on some blitz packages to make Jackson uncomfortable in the pocket and try to force him into making some mistakes.
Also expect the Ravens to do the same sort of thing to throw Patrick Mahomes’ timing off and force him to let go of the ball before he wants to, preventing him from going through his progressions.
Baltimore has done very well the past two weeks putting the pressure on the passer against the Dolphins and Cardinals wracking up 43 total pressures ranking fifth in the NFL.
Kansas City will be hoping their running game will be able to get going in order to slow the Ravens pass rush a little. The Chiefs run game was ineffective last week against Oakland and the game ended with both LeSean McCoy and Damien Williams going down due to injury.
McCoy is currently sidelined due to an ankle injury. Although, he was a limited participant in practice on Thursday after not practicing at all on Wednesday.
Damien Williams’ knee injury has kept him out of practice all week thus far and it’s unlikely he’ll see the field on Sunday.
Look for rookie Darwin Thompson and Darrel Williams to have an advanced role on the offense.
However, it’s been all systems go for Baltimore’s running game. Mark Ingram is putting together a splendid season thus far, rushing for 154 yards on 27 carries and two rushing touchdowns. He’ll be going up against a Kansas City run defense that has had its struggles stopping the run through the first two games this season, giving up 6.0 yards per carry.
Quick Stats
– If Kansas City pulls off the win on Sunday, Head Coach Andy Reid moves into 6th place on the all-time wins list for head coaches
– Punter Dustin Colquitt will have a chance to make history on Arrowhead this weekend by appearing in his 225th game, passing hall of fame guard Will Shields for the franchise record as the longest-tenured Chief.
Prediction
Go back and look at the Chiefs vs Ravens highlights from last season because I think we’ll see the same sort of thing the weekend. I fully expect Baltimore to put the pressure on Mahomes every single time he drops back to pass, especially since KC is rolling with their backup left tackle. Needless to say, the Chiefs can’t go one dimensional like they did last week against the Raiders. Kansas City needs to get the run game going to keep the Ravens defense honest.
Defensively, the Chiefs are up against their toughest foe yet in Lamar Jackson. The Chiefs defense still has a ways to go but they improved last week against the Raiders, limiting Oakland to only ten points despite giving up 307 of offense.
I know Jackson has exceeded expectations as a pocket passer but I still think the Chiefs need to try and contain him in the pocket. At least then, it’ll keep him from using his athletic ability to be a dual-threat. If Kansas City can do that, while also taking away his favorite targets, Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews, it could make for a long day in Baltimore.
Whether the defense will be able to do all that, however, remains to be seen. Still, though, I’m expecting a lot of points, some big defensive plays from both teams and another overtime thriller with some Mahomes magic on top.
Ravens: 31 Chiefs: 34 (OT)
