Kansas City Chiefs: Don’t overreact to loss vs. Baltimore Ravens
By Byron Smith
Kansas City Chiefs fans, in the wise words of Douglas Adams: don’t panic
Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs lost a close game to the Baltimore Ravens. What should have been an easy win turned into a heart-racing fourth quarter then turned into a heartbreaking defeat. The Chiefs’ aspirations for a 17-0 regular season are crushed and they were crushed much earlier than anyone was ready for.
Kansas City Chiefs fans, understandably, responded quickly and angrily to the loss. Chiefs’ Kingdom has lit up Twitter and Facebook blaming anyone and everyone they can. Everyone from Andy Reid, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Steve Spagnuolo, Brett Veach, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Daniel Sorenson, Frank Clark, and even Tyrann Mathieu (who had two interceptions) is being targeted by an outraged fanbase.
However, as much as that loss may emotionally hurt, it is not time to lose faith. Things may seem extremely bad, but there is no reason for the heads to roll.
As a matter of fact, there are even some great positives to take away from Sunday night.
The positives from the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens
Tyrann Mathieu was a highlight in the first half. After missing week one’s game after living with COVID-19 for a week and a half, his return to the defense was highly anticipated. Capping off the first defensive stand of the night with a pick-six was the most Tyrann Mathieu way to let everyone know he had returned. His second interception in the red zone should have all but secured the Chiefs’ victory.
In only two quarters, Mathieu became tied for the season’s interception title. He actually dropped a third interception in the third quarter, which would have given him the lead in interceptions in five fewer quarters than the other names on the list have had.
Then there’s the offensive line. The Chiefs’ new offensive line is actually a huge highlight of the Chiefs’ first two games. Despite taking their first snaps together as a unit, they have protected the king of Kansas City. They allowed zero sacks against the Baltimore Ravens, a defense that had three sacks the week prior against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Was everything perfect on the line? No. Creed Humphrey launched a bad snap early in the game, costing the Chiefs quite a few yards. The layered rush the Ravens were running seemed to confuse the unit as a whole.
However, the unit was overall great, and even if the unit does not get any better it has already proven to be worth the value Brett Veach paid to put them together.
Finally, almost every single skill position player on the offensive side of the ball got an opportunity to shine. Despite seeing constant double teams, Tyreek Hill got use in the run game and in the short pass game. Mecole Hardman had eight targets, and despite some tough coverage he managed to grab 55 yards receiving. Travis Kelce put the entire defense on skates during an unbelievable 46 catch and run.
Byron Pringle showed speed, and then some, on a 40-yard foot race to the endzone. Demarcus Robinson came looking for redemption from last week with a wonderful touchdown catch. Even Blake Bell showed some speed on a tight end screen. Jody Fortson also made his first NFL regular-season catch, which is also an extremely good thing.