4. Chiefs game on Monday Night Football:
On this particular Monday night, the loss felt about as bad as it could get. This was Lamar Jackson’s third crack at trying to beat the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes stole the show, people rushed to criticize Jackson (who had a dreadfully bad evening) and somehow the Ravens were no longer contenders.
This loss was frustrating because the defense looked as bad as the offense. It was a throw the tape away kind of game. The Ravens didn’t lose because of bad play. There was plenty of bad play yet the root cause was their need for a sports psychologist. The Ravens got tight, got behind, had no answers. It’s that simple.
It was early in the season against a team that has a chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions. It’s not the type of loss you get over, but it is the type of loss you know is possible. Patrick Mahomes had 385 yards and four touchdowns in this game. He’s probably going to go down as an all-time great; when he gets hot there is almost no defense that can stop it.
Baltimore wanted so badly to be the team to beat. They’re not. That’s something that they could get over once they had to address bigger problems. If the Ravens went undefeated other than this game, it would be a different story. The truth is the Ravens had to find themselves this season, who knows if they’ve even done it yet.
The importance of the Chiefs battle went down as the season progressed. It may have been the biggest sting, but it doesn’t continue to ache the way that some of the others do.