10 observations from Baltimore Ravens heartbreaking loss to Kansas City

1. That game could have gone differently with Joe Flacco, in a bad way:

The Chiefs defense isn’t great, however they have a respectable pass rush. The pass rush would have been a bigger problem with Joe Flacco under center than with the elusive Jackson. The Ravens had to attack the Chiefs the way they did. While they did get beat in time of possession, the Ravens offense held on to the ball long enough to make this thing interesting. The ground and pound style of play pushed the Chiefs.

Flacco and the Ravens had been getting very pass happy before Jackson came in as the understudy. If the Ravens got into a shootout with the Chiefs, and Flacco registered 40-50 passing attempts, this game would have gone much worse for the Ravens. Jackson isn’t as good as a passer, but he made an overall impact that Flacco wouldn’t have made. Lamar Jackson gave the Ravens a chance to win. He isn’t at fault here.

The Ravens got beat but honestly this game isn’t something that fans should play the blame game over. They lost to the best team in their conference, but showed that they could play with them. The Ravens don’t get a boost from a moral victory, but they shouldn’t be too clobbered by heartbreak. Walking into Arrowhead, you know a loss is easy to get. The Ravens got beat, but they didn’t make it easy. That was a classic game. It felt like the Mile High Miracle in 2012, it just went the other way.