NFL Wild Card: Ravens at Chiefs

[Mack Herron]

From OC down, people are not pulling for this coach. Against an opponent liek Baltimore, they all need to be on the same page. I look for Ravens to be coming to town Sun.

 

[102 Pat]

I hope that it's a competitive game, of course if Indy wins tonight, it'll be that much more interesting as a Pats fan to watch the game tomorrow.

 

[Patspsycho]

I don't see how. The Chiefs have a pretty good amount of internal strife between the two OC's (Haley and Weis). On top of that, I really don't see how their O-Line is going to be capable of blocking the Ravens pass rush. Furthermore, I don't see how they're going to be able to run the ball against the Ravens like they have against everyone this year. I really want the Chiefs to win, but I'm not expecting it at all.

Ravens have their share of distractions- Ed Reed's brother jumped in the Mississippi river escaping the cops and has not been since. If you've seen the river down in Louisiana, the current moves pretty fast, so unless his brother is an Olympian Swimmer, the prospects are very dim. LaCanfora tweets that Ed Reed may not go to KC, but back home.

And as for the Ravens in general, they are not peaking, their last four games haven't been exemplar, they've won by less than a TD each time except for Cleveland and that game wasn't that impressive.

But the angle here is largely psychological- Ravens haven't played at Arrowhead which is a very good home stadium with a great fanbase that can turn the place very electric, and the Ravens are going to underestimate what it's like to play there, where the Chiefs are a completely different team. They are 7-1 at Arrowhead and their only loss comes against the Raiders who have had their numbers for a long time.

Also no matter how much you talk about the Ravens D, it is still old. Chiefs are a young team, and especially when it comes to their running game (e.g., Charles). I expect to see it become lateral with plenty of end around plays that force the LB's to race sideline to sideline. That will gas them.

And I've said this before- it's going to be a classic case of a trap playoff game where they're foaming at the mouth about playing at New England and shutting their mouth up and avenging that OT loss this season, and in the meanwhile taking this round too lightly. I've mentioned that Harbaugh is not that good enough of a coach to preach mental discipline because we've seen the Ravens completely fall apart after a bad call or a dumb penalty.

 

[karran_s]

Would like to see the Chiefs step up but you consider the fact that the Ravens were only a close loss to the Steelers short of having the second best record in the league, and they are only the fifth seed because of tie breakers. The seeding and who has home field just doesn't tell the story for the opening round (same goes with the NFC).

Hopefully at the very least they put up a good fight and hit the Ravens with some of their own medicine. Would be funny if Thuggs aggravated his knee chasing after somebody taunting him about Brady. :rocker:

I think whacky seeding more or less dictates that the Pats will have to go through the #2A and #2B teams of the conference to get to Dallas (assign the letters as you see fit, it is a close call).

There is of course the slight chance that the Jets aren't complete and total frauds, but I'm not exactly sold on that notion either.

I think most are favoring the Ravens as they play well on the road. In fact, they don't really care whether it's at home or on the road. However, KC has a good running game, which could set up Matt for some good play action passes. The Chiefs are tough to beat at home and I think they will win... but it will be close .. by a field goal.

 

[jmt57]

Curtis will play, Chambers will not | Red Zone | The Kansas City Star

The Chiefs replaced one veteran receiver, Chris Chambers, with another, Kevin Curtis, today. Chambers is inactive but Curtis, signed only this week, will be in uniform.

Also active for the Chiefs are the two Pro Bowl players who missed some practice time this week, Dwayne Bowe and Brian Waters.

Wide receiver Quinten Lawrence, fullback Mike Cox, offensive lineman Rudy Niswanger, defensive lineman Anthony Toribio, linebacker Charlie Anderson and defensive back Reshard Langford are the other Chiefs inactive players.

Tyler Palko is the third quarterback.

Baltimore will play without, among others, David Reed, the NFL's top kickoff return specialist. Otherwise, all of the key players on their lengthy injury list will be available.

A very good article on Matt Cassel, well worth reading:
Chiefs QB Matt Cassel finds a home in Kansas City | The Kansas City Star

 

[Patspsycho]

Going to be an interesting game.

BTW they called off the search for Ed Reed's brother. They are presuming he did not survive.

 

[Patspsycho]

Flacco has thrown two near picks.

 

[Patriots Nation NY]

wow, ravens run the comeback route .. lol, never seen that before. .

 

[Deus Irae]

Flacco should have been picked twice already, and it's only the first drive. A first time team like the Chiefs really needs to make those play to build confidence.

 

[JMarr]

Rooting hard for KC, but has anyone really talked about the fact that their D just isn't very good. The only way for the Ravens to lose is to beat themselves

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Flacco has thrown two near picks.

Flacco never looks great, but he seems to produce. And his numbers compare favourably with golden boy Matt Ryan, whom the media worships. Maybe it's cuz Flacco is fugly.

 

[jmt57]

By the numbers: The strengths and vulnerabilities of Baltimore and KC - KansasCity.com

1. The Chiefs can attack the Ravens’ corners

As good as Baltimore’s run defense is, teams can throw on the Ravens, particularly cornerback Josh Wilson.

The metric (stats analyst K.C.) Joyner uses to evaluate cornerbacks is yards per attempt, which is basically the average number of yards an opponent gains every time they throw at a guy (that includes penalty yardage). The top corners in the league allow between 4 and 5 yards per attempt, while the middle-of-the-road guys allow between 7 and 9 yards per attempt. Anything more than that is terrible.

Through the first two-thirds of the season — that’s all the Ravens tape Joyner was able to get through — Wilson’s YPA was 6.8, well below teammates Chris Carr (6.4) and Lardarius Webb (5.5). Considering Carr starts on one side and Webb is the nickel corner, Joyner said Wilson — who joined the Ravens this year after posting YPAs of 7.3 and 9.1 with Seattle the previous two seasons — is the man to target.

“If they can get (receiver Dwayne) Bowe matched up on Wilson, and Bowe is as good as his recent numbers suggest he is, that should be a matchup Bowe should be able to exploit with great success,” Joyner said.

5. The Chiefs’ defense is better at forcing quarterbacks into making bad decisions

For all their stars and hype, the Ravens’ percentage on making quarterbacks make bad decisions — common mistakes like staring down receivers, forcing the ball into coverage and not reading a defense properly — is only 2.7 this year, down from their mark of 3.2 percent last season.

“I don’t think they’re quite as creative as they were under Rex Ryan, when they had much higher bad-decision percentages,” Joyner said.

The Chiefs’ defense posted a higher bad-decision percentage — 3.8, easily in the top five in the league.

“Kansas City’s defense is actually better at forcing bad decisions, which is not surprising because (defensive coordinator) Romeo Crennel is from that Belichick system of knowing how to force quarterbacks into making bad decisions,” Joyner said.

Chiefs rookies played crucial roles in gaining a playoff berth - KansasCity.com

(Safety Eric) Berry, safety Kendrick Lewis and tight end Tony Moeaki have all been starters. Moeaki is second on the Chiefs with 47 catches. Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas got considerable playing time — McCluster as a receiver and runner, and Arenas as a nickel back. Both players also returned kickoffs and punts.

Rookies had their biggest impact at the back end of the defense, where Berry and Lewis are starters.

The Chiefs were initially concerned about playing two rookies at positions where a mistake can get a team beat. While the ride had some bumps, it was as smooth as the Chiefs could have hoped.

“You worry about calls getting blown and all kinds of things,” cornerback Brandon Flowers said, “but these guys have been tremendous.

“They’re ahead of their time mentally. They can call out every play the offense runs before they even run it.”

Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said, “With rookies, there is always some good and some bad — and that’s been the case — but both of these guys have developed and have grown as this season has gone on. And I think that we see that they’re beginning to operate better in the system, make plays — and I think they’re going to be good players for us for a while.

“They’re playing better, thankfully. They understand the system better. They know where they need to fit better. They help each other, help other players more as the game goes on. So I think they’ve learned as the season has gone on, so that’s a good thing for us.”

Berry, the strong safety, hasn’t played as well in pass coverage. The Chiefs at times had trouble covering opposing tight ends.

“Eric has come in and been really good in run support,” Haley said. “He made progress in the passing game side of it, and he has obviously made some really big plays for us. He has helped our defense, and at times he has done things that he needs to do better.

“I think we all had high expectations for Eric — that he would come in and be able to help us immediately. Now he’s not there yet either, but he’s a talented guy that has continued to improve every week. He wants to be a great player. He works hard at his craft and is very coachable and is a great young man that I am excited will be part of the Chiefs, hopefully, for a long time. He’s been a big addition, much like the majority of our young group this year.”

 

[gtfanboy]

good stand by the chiefs

 

[Patspsycho]

impressive goal line stop. Chiefs were not fooled by the play action roll out.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Eric Berry -- what a year for rookie DBs.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Very Patriotic stop! Goooo chiefs!

 

[BendButDontBreak37]

Anyone else hope that Pittsburgh crushes Baltimore?

 

[Ring 6]

Ravens offense just doesnt have that 'it'.
Good running game, decent group of receivers, QB that analysts speak very highly or who does have a big arm, but they just seem to consistently underperform.
And their D is not what it used to be. Still good but vulnerable. They may win this game, but this is just not a SB team.

 

[Patspsycho]

Ravens are underestimating just how fast the KC backers are.

 

[Patspsycho]

That's the third damn time KC has lost track of a man over the middle.