Chiefs 2021 Opponent Overview: Baltimore Ravens

Week Two of the 2021 season pits the Kansas City Chiefs in yet another marquee matchup. The AFC defending champion travels to Baltimore to face the Ravens. And it will take place on Sunday Night Football.

In each of the last three seasons, these two teams have faced off. There has been hype surrounding a potential upset, courtesy of the Ravens. But every year, the Chiefs have taken care of business against them. Patrick Mahomes is 3-0 in all-time meetings against Lamar Jackson. Their biggest win? It came last year when Kansas City dominated the Ravens on Monday Night Football in Baltimore.

Today, we will be giving our own view of this current Ravens squad. What could we expect from their offense and defense? Plus, will the recent injuries be too much for Baltimore to bounce back from? The Ravens are also facing a major dilemma. If they do not defeat Kansas City, their season will begin at 0-2. History has not been kind to Super Bowl hopefuls that start 0-2 like the Ravens could be.

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The Injury Bug

Certain teams just cannot stay away from the injury bug in individual seasons. This time the Ravens are feeling the pain, and it has been in a harsh way. Linebacker LJ Fort tore his ACL in training camp. Then after the preseason began, running back JK Dobbins tore his ACL in a preseason game, running back Justice Hill tore his Achilles in practice and rookie first round wide receiver Rashod Bateman suffered a groin injury. This forced Bateman to open the season on short term injured reserve.

Then it got worse. In last week’s practice, running back Gus Edwards and cornerback Marcus Peters both suffered torn ACLs on back to back plays. Their offensive line took a hit in Monday’s loss to the Raiders. Left guard Tyre Phillips was carted off the field with a knee injury and he has been subsequently placed on injured reserve. He will miss at least three weeks of action.

For this massive game against the Chiefs, Baltimore is facing one of the league’s more complete teams at the wrong time. Can they overcome these unfortunate cards that they have been dealt?

The Lamar Show

Looking towards the Ravens offense, it has always been the Lamar Jackson show since he took over as starting quarterback. It has never been true now more than ever, however. Their running game has been one of the deepest and most challenging to stop over the last couple of years. Yet, the injuries have altered many operations with their offensive rushing attack. The running backs on the roster now are collectively slower, less dynamic and less trustworthy, sans Ty’Son Williams. We already saw the inefficiency on Monday night against the Raiders.

In the passing game, there are questions to monitor from both Jackson and the pass catchers. Jackson is looking to become more consistent as a passer deeper down the field. His accuracy was inconsistent on Monday as well. From the pass catchers, tight end Mark Andrews has been the quarterback’s go to guy. He has looked shaky and hesitant with the ball in his hands ever since the middle of last year. That carried over to the start of this season. Meanwhile, Sammy Watkins and Marquise Brown made some nice plays on Monday night. How reliable can they be for a full season, though?

Finally, the offensive line of Baltimore may be the weakest it has been in a while. Phillips is now out at left guard. Veteran Alejandro Villanueva is now the right tackle. He was late with his hands time after time on Monday. Hello Chris Jones. Meanwhile, there have been previous health questions to monitor with Ronnie Stanley.

Youth Takes Over

Marlon Humphrey is one of the five best cornerbacks in the NFL. His ability to play both inside and outside, while being sticky in coverage against receivers of all sizes and having superior ball skills wins the Ravens a ton of games. His performance was mostly good on Monday night. But, he was beaten for the game winning touchdown in overtime. There is also only so much that Humphrey can do on his own. Without Peters, the rest of the secondary is highly inexperienced with playing a high number of snaps. This includes Tavon Young, Chris Westry, Anthony Averett and Brandon Stephens. This should excite Patrick Mahomes.

In the front seven, there is a trio of younger players that are playing significant roles. Linebackers Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison are being heavily counted on in both the run and pass game. Kansas City will have to account for those two looking to create takeaways for the Ravens, as well as their violent hitting nature. The other part of this trio is rookie first round pick Odafe Oweh. He is quick when rushing the passer and Oweh can become slippery when disengaging from blockers.

The only completely veteran group of the Ravens defense is the defensive line. The group of Calais Campbell, Brandon Williams, Derek Wolfe, Justin Houston and Pernell McPhee will likely have a few tricks up their sleeve for the Chiefs new offensive line. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is sure to be relentless when attacking the younger blockers of Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Lucas Niang.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles throughout the rest of this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.