Ravens: 4 best quarterbacks the team will face in 2021

1. The Ravens face Patrick Mahomes in 2021

Ah, we meet again.

Come September of 2021, Baltimore will face possibly the toughest test of the season when they go up against the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes has beaten the Ravens in all three starts against them, and he’s the man at the top of the Ravens’ revenge list.

Mahomes needs no introduction. He’s the fastest quarterback in league history to reach 10,000 yards passing and has led the Chiefs to back-to-back Super Bowls.

Last season, Mahomes scored a passer rating of 108.2 with 4,740 yards, 38 touchdowns, and six interceptions in 15 starts. He tends to perform exceptionally well against Baltimore, which is just their luck.

In their first matchup in 2018, Mahomes threw for 377 yards and two touchdowns. The Chiefs forced into overtime to clinch a playoff berth, beating the Ravens 27-24 (Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce were merciless that game).

In 2019, Mahomes threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns to secure a 33-28 victory.

And last year, Mahomes threw for 385 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 6.5 yards on his four rushing attempts in the Chief’s third-straight victory against the Ravens. See a pattern?

By contrast, Jackson threw for a career-low 97 yards and ran for 83 yards in last season’s game against Kansas City. It was an uncharacteristically meek performance by Jackson, albeit against one of the favorite Super Bowl contenders of the year.

And that’s the thing: whenever Baltimore plays Kansas City (or more aptly, whenever Jackson faces Mahomes), the Ravens just…wilt. Jackson even described Mahomes as Baltimore’s “Kryptonite” in a 2020 post-game interview, and the stats tell the story well enough.

Part of the reason is Baltimore’s run-heavy offense just doesn’t do enough against an explosive Chiefs team that scores points for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Network pointed out last year that the Ravens have never won a game from more than eight points behind with Jackson as QB.

So Baltimore isn’t really a comeback team. To beat the superhuman Mahomes, though, Baltimore will need a perfect MVP-level performance from Jackson and more of their offensive players to don capes.

The Mahomes curse ends in 2021.