Kansas City Chiefs: 10 likes and 10 dislikes from win vs Ravens in week 3

In a showdown between top teams in the AFC on Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs thoroughly throttled the Baltimore Ravens, winning 34-20.

With the win, the Kansas City Chiefs move to 3-0 on the young season while the Ravens fall to 2-1. More importantly, the Chiefs now hold the vital head-to-head tiebreaker against the Ravens should the two teams finish atop the AFC standings with the same record at the end of the regular season.

Here are my 10 likes and 10 dislikes from the game, starting with, as always, the positive.

10 Likes

1. Third Down Conversions

Excluding the team’s last third-down attempt, which didn’t matter much, the Chiefs’ offense went a sterling 10-for-12 on third-down conversions against the Baltimore Ravens, scoring touchdowns twice on such occasions. Check this out from Warren Sharp:

Meanwhile, the Ravens went only 3-for-9 on third-down attempts. I may not be a mathematician, but methinks the Chiefs had the better time on third downs last night.

2. The Air Defense Corps

Lamar Jackson, reigning NFL MVP, had just a terrible time passing the ball last night. He didn’t have his best time, but he was also under constant pressure from the Chiefs’ front seven while the secondary made a number of plays, too.

Jackson finished his evening 15-for-28 for 97 yards. 97 yards! He didn’t even break 100! How does that happen in today’s NFL? Especially when teams can pick up garbage yards and points at the end of big losses? Even Mitchell Trubisky had more than that this week, and the Bears benched him at halftime.

Bad night for Jackson due to the Chiefs’ defensive scheme. Chris Jones continues his rampage, Frank Clark returned to wreak havoc, and even Ben [checks notes] Niemann [?] had a sack.

And there’s this tidbit:

3. Sherman’s Touchdown

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1310745393253163008

Nothing else to add. Moving on.

4. Linebacking

I’ve been down on the Chiefs’ linebackers this season. Before the game, I answered some questions for Ebony Bird, FanSided’s site dedicated to the Ravens. One of those questions was about what matchup scared me the most. To me, it was asking the linebackers to do much at all.

But they stepped up! I already mentioned Niemann’s sack. He finished with two tackles, that sack, a tackle-for-loss, and a QB hit. Anthony Hitchens finished with four tackles and a pass defended. Damien Wilson had a spectacular play where he batted down a pass intended for tight end Mark Andrews while collecting four tackles.

Excellent game by the linebackers. Hopefully they keep it going.

5. Hill’s Touchdown

https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1310750992061870082

I’ll add this: I absolutely love that he beat Marcus Peters on this play.