The first AFC Championship Game hosted by the Baltimore Ravens did not go as well as they hoped it would. Baltimore’s stellar defense was picked apart in the first half by the Kansas City Chiefs, putting the team in an early hole as their offense struggled to get going outside of one drive.
While the defense figured things out in the second half, the offense was unable to get out of their own way. Even when they found some success moving the ball, a miscue would set them back and keep them from getting points.
Arguably the biggest miscues came from wide receiver Zay Flowers. After making a big play to get the Ravens up in the red zone, Flowers was called for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for taunting his opponent, flexing over him and throwing the ball near him.
The Ravens looked like they were going to be able to overcome that, as Flowers caught a pass and ran toward the end zone. However, when he dove to break the plane of the end zone, the ball was knocked loose out of his hands. The Chiefs recovered it for a touchback.
It was as brutal of a drive as you could have drawn up for a single player. Flowers cost his team on multiple occasions one drive and compounded the errors when he cut himself slamming his hand into the bench.
The rookie wide receiver said that he received a lot of support from his teammates after the plays, as they all had each other’s backs. However, he also took some time out to throw shade at the referees, believing they were partly to blame for the Ravens losing.
“We can’t make the calls for the refs,” Flowers said when talking to reporters after the game.
The disparity was large, as the Ravens were penalized eight times for 95 yards and the Chiefs were flagged three times for 30 yards. Some of the calls against Baltimore were certainly warranted, such as when Travis Jones was called for roughing the passer as he accidentally clubbed Patrick Mahomes in the face.
The Ravens were called for several 15-yard penalties, most of which were justified. The one against Flowers could have certainly been argued as a questionable call, as well as the personal foul against Kyle Van Noy, who was retaliating to something Chiefs’ star tight end Travis Kelce did.
While the referees certainly didn’t help the Ravens, most of their penalties were warranted and self-inflicted. It also wasn’t the referees who fumbled the ball at the goal line or threw an interception in the red zone, keeping at least nine or ten points off the board for Baltimore.
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