With KC’s explosive offense, good line play on both sides of the ball, and solid special-teams play, look for the Chiefs to get their fifth win in six Maryland visits. It won’t be easy, though.
WHAT: Week Three vs. Kansas City Chiefs
WHEN: 8:15 p.m. (ET); Monday, September 28
WHERE: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore (70,745)
RECORDS: Chiefs, 2-0; Ravens, 2-0
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Chiefs lead, 6-3, having won the last three meetings in 2015, 2018, and 2019 after the teams had already traded three-game win streaks against each other. In Baltimore, the Ravens are 1-4 in regular-season play against the Chiefs, with two of the losses coming in prime time (Thursday night, 1999; Monday night, 2004).
TV: ESPN
LOCAL RADIO: WIYY-FM, 97.9 (Gerry Sandusky, Dennis Pitta, booth)
REFEREE: John Hussey
About the Chiefs
–This is one of the Ravens’ two “placement” games in 2020, that is, games determined by their finish in the 2019 standings. The scheduling formula dictated that the Ravens would play an AFC West team at home that finished in the same spot in that division as the Ravens did in theirs, and the Ravens and Chiefs both won their divisions. Two years ago, the Ravens played the entire AFC West with the formula putting the Kansas City game on the road. So with the last Ravens-Chiefs placement game also taking place on the road, all of that explains why the Ravens had to travel to Kansas City for two straight years. The Ravens’ other placement game this year is their road clash with New England. When the Ravens play the entire AFC West again in 2021, Kansas City will revisit Baltimore.
—The Kansas City Chiefs began their existence as the Dallas Texans when the American Football League began operations in 1960. Three years later, owner Lamar Hunt, who was one of those primarily responsible for the invention of the Super Bowl, moved the team to Kansas City. The team won the 1962 AFL title as the Texans just before the move, then won the league again in 1966 and 1969 as the Chiefs. Those last two wins put the Chiefs into Super Bowl 1 (losing to Green Bay) and Super Bowl 4 (beating Minnesota).
–In sixty complete seasons, the Chiefs have accumulated 22 playoff berths with 12 division championships and ten wild-card spots. Under the present-day AFC West banner, the Chiefs have six division titles, including each of the past four seasons. However, Kansas City has a lifetime postseason record of just 13-19 (.406). The Chiefs’ three-game title run last year elevated the team’s playoff win percentage from the league’s second-worst to its seventh-worst. The Chiefs have advanced to just three post-merger AFC Championship Games (1-2), losing to Buffalo after the 1993 season, a game that put the Bills in their fourth straight Super Bowl, and New England last year before beating Tennessee last season.
–When the Baltimore Colts were part of the NFL, that team won just three of eight meetings with the Chiefs. The losses included Kansas City’s 44-24 win at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in 1970 in the second-ever “Monday Night Football” telecast.
–The Ravens and Chiefs have had a colorful, albeit short, history against each other. The Chiefs were the Ravens’ first-ever Thursday-night home opponent, blasting the Ravens, 35-8, in 1999. Six years later, Kansas City won again in Baltimore (on a Monday night) for one of only two Ravens losses in a Ring of Honor induction game, when Michael McCrary was honored. The Ravens topped the Chiefs in a thrilling 2009 home opener, and, in 2015, Kansas City won a 34-14 game in Baltimore that featured the Ravens’ infamous wearing of mustard-yellow uniform pants. Kansas City beat Baltimore in each of the last two years at its own Arrowhead Stadium, with the first game going to overtime.
–The Chiefs are one of eight teams with a lifetime winning record over the Ravens, having won six of the nine regular-season meetings. Baltimore has won the only postseason game between the two. The other teams that currently have a lifetime regular-season edge on the Ravens are Carolina (Baltimore is 2-4 against the Panthers), Chicago (2-4), Green Bay (2-4), Indianapolis (4-8), Jacksonville (9-12), New England (2-8) and Pittsburgh (23-25).
–Kansas City and Baltimore are both 2-0, part of a group of 11 teams that have started that way, tied for the most in league history (1998, 2006, 2008). Since 2006, 17 games have featured 2-0 teams colliding in Week Three. In three of those games, the winner has gone on to win the Super Bowl: Kansas City last year, New England in 2016, and Indianapolis in 2006. Kansas City is the second unbeaten defending Super Bowl champion ever to play a road game at Baltimore, the first being New England in 2019. The Ravens are 6-4 against defending Super Bowl champions, including a 5-1 mark in such games at home, with the only loss coming via blowout against Indianapolis in 2007 on a Sunday-night telecast.
–The Chiefs’ schedule has a strange configuration to it, with four two-game road trips and two instances of back-to-back home games. Kansas City played at Los Angeles (Chargers) last week, then flies to the East Coast this week to play Baltimore. After a mid-November bye week, the Chiefs play four of their next five on the road, but wind up with two straight at home against Atlanta and the Chargers, which some might perceive as a soft run-in. As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs have the maximum of five prime-time games, but only two are at home.
–The Chiefs’ high-scoring offense scored 25 or more points in an NFL-record 25 straight games, a streak that ended early last season. But the team rebounded to score 23 or more in 14 straight, a run that took them through the Super Bowl; it has since been extended to 16. The team tallied 451 points last year, down from 565 points last year, but scored at least 81 in each of the four regulation quarters. In 2018, Kansas City fielded one of the most prolific offenses in league history; the 565-point output ranks third all-time, bettered only by the 2013 Denver Broncos (606) and the 2007 New England Patriots (589).
—Currently, the Chiefs sport a modest plus-2 turnover ratio through two weeks, tied with several other teams for the league’s third-best (Baltimore leads the league at plus-4). They have already intercepted two passes on defense, and they are one of just three teams to have not turned the ball over on offense (Green Bay and Tennessee are the others). Despite the team’s quick-strike capability, the Chiefs are running the ball more often this year, yet they are averaging just 29:42 worth of possession time per game, good for only 19th in the league. Opponents are getting a bit smarter against the Chiefs as well, for Kansas City has just three first downs via opponents’ penalties, ranking near the bottom of the league (Baltimore has only one).
—Kansas City has played relatively clean football through the first two weeks, committing only 12 accepted penalties, putting it firmly in the middle of the league pack (Baltimore has ten penalties). Most infractions have come because of occasionally-sloppy offensive line play, with four false starts and an NFL-high five holding calls. Starting guard and former Raven Kelechi Osemele – a part of Baltimore’s Super Bowl 47 team – has been flagged for one false start and two holding penalties, but he is the only player on the team with more than two infractions. According to STATS, Inc., the Chiefs have been credited with just three dropped passes in two games, but Baltimore is one of four teams that have not been charged with any drops so far.
—Head coach Andy Reid is the 13th head coach in Kansas City franchise history. He is in his eighth year with the Chiefs and has just begun his 22nd season as an NFL head coach. In his 29 years in the league as a head and assistant coach, Reid’s teams have made the playoffs 21 times; he has coached in four Super Bowls, nine NFC Championship Games, and two AFC title games. Reid is 84-40 in regular-season and playoff games with the Chiefs and has a career regular-season mark of 209-128-1 (.620).
–Before winning the title last year, Reid had the most wins of any head coach that had not won a Super Bowl, and his 209 wins are just four behind Paul Brown for sixth on the all-time list. Every coach ahead of him is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame except for Bill Belichick, who is not yet eligible. In six career games coaching against the Ravens, Reid is 5-1. Reid is also a three-time NFL Coach of the Year; an award won last year by one of Reid’s former assistants in Philadelphia, current Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh.
–Notable assistants on Reid’s staff include former Ravens senior defensive assistant and secondary coach Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator. Others include former Maryland assistant Brendan Daly (defensive line), as well as former NFL players Eric Bienemy (offensive coordinator) and Sam Madison (defensive backs).
—The Chiefs are currently ranked 13th in total offense (eighth rushing, 18th passing, tied for eighth scoring at 28.5 points per game). Kansas City is averaging 25.5 first downs per game, tied for sixth in the league, and is tied for eighth with a 50 percent third-down conversion rate. Defensively, the Chiefs are slightly worse than last year, ranking 27th overall (27th vs. rush, 24th vs. pass, ninth scoring, allowing 20 points per game). The red-zone defense has allowed touchdowns 83.3 percent of the time, tied for the league’s fifth-worst mark.
–-Fourth-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a 2017 first-round pick from Texas Tech (tenth overall), is In his third year as the team’s starter after the team traded Alex Smith to Washington. He has already been a league Most Valuable Player, a Super Bowl MVP, a two-time Pro Bowl selectee, and first-team All-Pro. For his career, he has completed 65.8 percent of his passes with 81 touchdowns, 18 interceptions, and a 108.6 passer rating. He averages 2.45 touchdown passes per game, the highest mark in NFL history (minimum 30 games). Mahomes recently received a ten-year, $503 million contract extension, the biggest deal in professional sports history.
–Slowed by an ankle injury last year, Mahomes still threw 26 touchdown passes and only five interceptions. This year, he has five scoring tosses and no pickoffs in two games with a 104 rating and only two sacks. In two games against the Ravens, Mahomes has hit on 68 percent of his passes with five touchdowns, one interception, four sacks, and a 108.1 rating. In 2018, Mahomes became the third quarterback in NFL history (P. Manning, Brady) to have 40 or more touchdown passes within the first 12 games of a season; Brady and Manning won league MVP awards when they accomplished this feat, and Mahomes followed suit in 2018. Mahomes and Manning are the only quarterbacks to ever have a single season with over 5000 passing yards and 50 touchdown passes.
—The Chiefs felt a need to boost their running game this year, so they took LSU feature back Clyde Edwards-Helaire towards the bottom of the draft’s first round. Edwards-Helaire, a teammate of Baltimore linebacker Patrick Queen on the Tigers’ national-championship squad, has 35 of the team’s 56 carries. The team has passed it 81 times (including sacks allowed) for a respectable minus-25 run-pass ratio. Edwards-Helaire is averaging five yards-per-carry and has the team’s only rushing score so far. Previous starter Damien Williams, who ran for a 38-yard, game-clinching touchdown in the Super Bowl, opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns. Anthony Sherman is the team’s fullback.
—Kansas City brings its usual dazzling array of pass-game targets to go up against a stout Baltimore secondary. Tyreek Hill, fully recovered from a broken collarbone, is listed as the starter alongside Sammy Watkins, who is now in his third year in Kansas City. Mecole Hardman is back for his second season, and DeMarcus Robinson, a fifth-year player from Florida, is also in the mix. Hill has ten grabs, a 14.5 average, and two scores, including a 54-yard catch. Watkins has eight catches and a touchdown. Robinson and Hardman scored against the Ravens last year in a 23-point second-quarter burst; Hardman’s catch-and-run score went for 83 yards.
–Tight end Travis Kelce, who has blossomed into one of the league’s best at his position in recent years, has a team-high 15 receptions, a nine-yard average, and two scores. He is only the second tight end in league history to have three straight 1000-yard seasons (Greg Olsen). Kelce had seven catches for 89 yards in the Chiefs’ win over the Ravens last year, and he has averaged 102 yards per game in seven Monday-night appearances.
—While not regarded as one of the league’s premier left tackles, Eric Fisher has been steady, if not spectacular. Fisher was the top overall draft pick in 2013, a year that saw five tackles and nine offensive linemen taken in the first round. However, Fisher didn’t play against the Ravens last year after leaving the previous week’s game with a groin injury after just four snaps. Right tackle Mitchell Schwartz switched over to the left side against the Ravens; he is now in his fifth year with the team and has started and played every snap of his 128 career games with the Chiefs and Cleveland. Right guard Andrew Wylie is a former Colt who has been moved from right guard to left guard and back to the right again as the team picked up veteran NFL guard Kelechi Osemele, part of the Ravens’ Super Bowl 47 championship team. Austin Reiter, a 2015 seventh-round pick by Washington, returns at center.
—The Chiefs’ base defense switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 last year. One of the tackles is Florida State-bred second-year player Derrick Nnadi (unit-high ten tackles, 1.5 sacks), a player they selected in the third round after trading two picks to Baltimore to move up 11 spots/ He plays alongside Chris Jones, who became the first player in league history to get a sack in 11 straight games. Jones 15.5 sacks in 2018 were third-most in the league. Tanoh Kpassagnon and Frank Clark are the defensive ends. Clark played his rookie contract on the dominant Seattle defense, leading that team with 13 sacks last year before being traded to the Chiefs for a first-round pick other considerations. Kpassagnon, a fourth-year veteran from Villanova, won the job when Alex Okafor injured his calf in training camp.
—The Chiefs’ linebackers are an experienced group, but in the squad’s 4-2-5 base look, there aren’t as many of them on the field. The team’s leading tackler is teh inside linebacker (and Dallas free-agent pickup) Anthony Hitchens, who had ten or more tackles in five of seven games during one stretch in 2018. He leads the team through two games this year with 17 stops. He had finished second on the Cowboys’ squad in tackles in 2017. Hitchens’ new interior partner is Damien Wilson, who replaces Reggie Ragland. Wilson is in his sixth year in the league and second with the Chiefs. Wilson has 14 tackles, second-most on the team.
—Kansas City cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, a fourth-round rookie (138th overall) from Louisiana Tech, is not listed as a starter, but he has the team’s only two interceptions so far. He leads the league in that category. Sneed also leads the cornerback crew with nine tackles. Charvarius Ward and Rashad Fenton are the outside starters with Fenton backing up the versatile Antonio Hamilton in the slot. Daniel Sorenson is in his seventh year with the team, but only his fourth as a starting safety once he filled in for Eric Berry, who had torn his Achilles. Sorenson got moved to free safety this year because the strong safety is former Arizona Cardinals standout Tyrann Mathieu, who spent one season in Houston before coming to the Chiefs, where he is now in his second season. Mathieu, the well-known “Honey Badger,” is third on the team with 13 tackles. Mathieu broke up three passes in last year’s win over Baltimore.
—Mecole Hardman, a young receiver taken in the second round from Georgia, is the primary kick and punt returner. Speedy Tyreek Hill backing him up in both roles. Hardman has run back only one punt for 16 yards (with three fair catches) and two kickoffs for 51 over the season’s first two weeks. The Chiefs’ coverage teams allow an average of 11 yards per punt return and 21.6 yards on kick runbacks.
–Former Georgia Tech and Carolina Panthers kicker, Harrison Butker, is 5-for-5 on field goals so far this year. Butker has hit two kicks from over 50 yards, including an overtime, game-winning 58-yard kick last week against the Chargers. He set an NFL record with 38 field goals as a rookie, but surprisingly missed four extra points in 2018. He has misfired on a conversion already this year. His 62 successful field goals over his first two years stand as the club record, and Butker’s career field-goal accuracy rate (89.72 percent) is second in NFL history only to Baltimore’s Justin Tucker. Butker has scored 19 points this year, just four behind the league leader (Tucker, 23).
–Previously, the most senior player on the Chiefs’ roster was 14-year punter Dustin Colquitt. But Colquitt left for Pittsburgh in the off-season where his father, Craig, punted for a championship Steelers squad. The new Chiefs punter is undrafted rookie Tommy Townsend, who can also place-kick if anything happens to Butker. Townsend, a University of Florida product, has punted eight times in two games and has placed three of those kicks inside the coffin corner. He is grossing 44.6 yards per kick, but is netting only 36.9 with two touchbacks.
Prediction
Some might see last week’s narrow win as a sign of the Chiefs’ vulnerability. But it shouldn’t be taken that way. Kansas City has added Edwards-Helaire to spice up its run game, and teams haven’t been used to that. Yes, the KC defense is likely to be challenged by Baltimore’s record-setting run game. But with the Chiefs’ explosive offense, good line play on both sides of the ball, and solid special-teams unit, look for the Chiefs to get its fifth win in six Maryland visits.
It won’t be easy, though. Look for a hard-earned victory.
Kansas City 26, Baltimore 24
