10. We’re underselling superstar performances from the Chiefs superstars:
It’s easy to blame the Ravens defense for their collapse. They didn’t just have one chance to end the game. They had a few chances to stop the Chiefs and walk away with a victory. This is where the past colors or judgment. This brings up 4th and 12 last year. It invokes the memory of Antonio Brown reaching across the goal line as well. The Ravens have lost this way so many times that blaming the defense for buckling at the end is almost a reflex. This seems different.
When the Ravens gave up the 4th & 12 to the Bengals, the made Andy Dalton and Tyler Boyd the heroes of the game. When they lost to the Steelers in 2016 and 2017 on late Roethlisberger drives, the anger came from the fact that it happened the same way again. Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers are familiar foes and letting the same heartbreak rip you apart time and time again is a frustrating example of trying the same thing and expecting different results. However the loss to the Chiefs doesn’t sting the same way.
The Ravens had the Chiefs on a 4th & 9. They came after Patrick Mahomes, in fact Za’Darius Smith was a second away from sending him into next week. Mahomes improvised and made a play only a superstar could make. What do you want the Ravens to do at that point. Great players change the game because they make plays that are just indefensible and unstoppable. That wasn’t on par with making Andy Dalton look like Joe Montana. That was Pat Mahomes showing you he’s the next Brett Favre and his opponents just have to deal with it.