Ravens: No time to sulk with the Chiefs coming to town

The Baltimore Ravens took an ‘L’ against the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night. It’s only Tuesday, but it’s already time to move on.

Marlon Humphrey protected the backfield as best he could, Ty’Son Williams ran for a solid night, and Lamar Jackson did usual Lamar Jackson things (except for that fumble), but it wasn’t enough to stop a Darren Waller-powered Raiders team.

As much as we scratch our heads wondering how that game ended the way it did, the Ravens have no time to wallow in what they did wrong (Alejandro Villanueva, we’re looking at you).

Baltimore faces its toughest test of the season in the form of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday.

So much for a bounce-back game.

But we’re not total Debbie Downers here. The Ravens have a shot at beating the 2020 Super Bowl champs and their dazzling ringleader, but only if they quickly learn from their mistakes.

Since Lamar Jackson became Baltimore’s starting quarterback in 2018, the Chiefs have bested the Ravens in the last two matchups.

In 2019, Kansas City won without Tyreek Hill and Damien Williams as Mahomes threw for a blistering 374 yards and three touchdowns.

In 2020, Mahomes again lay waste to Baltimore’s defense reaching 10,000 career passing yards to lead his team to victory, and the Ravens’ coaches and players were left with their jaws hanging open.

The common factor here: Mahomes is truly great. But to make matters worse for Baltimore (and their secondary in particular), Mahomes seems to play some of his greatest games against the Ravens.

The Ravens got knocked down, but they must get up again for their Week 2 game against the Chiefs

Humphrey locked up Darren Waller, Hunter Renfrow, and Henry Ruggs III on Monday night, which was a pretty incredible feat when you consider how each of those wide receivers possessed a different skill set (size, speed, route-running ability).

It didn’t matter to Humphrey. He did the assignment and got the extra credit.

Against the Chiefs, Humphrey doesn’t have any room for error, nor does he have Marcus Peters by his side as he did in 2020.

Peters has the advantage of having played with Mahomes when he was at Kansas City in 2017, getting valuable practice reps in against the quarterback many believe to be Baltimore’s “Kryptonite.”

The Ravens have ex-Chiefs wideout Sammy Watkins, but he can’t exactly help Baltimore out on defense.

But containing Mahomes will not be enough. As the Cleveland Browns found out the hard way in their season opener against the Chiefs, come-from-behind victories (even double-digit ones) are kind of Mahomes’ specialty.

That means Baltimore will have to be on their toes for the entire four quarters of the game, with Humphrey and the still unproven Anthony Averett up against possibly the best deep threats they’ll play all season.

Baltimore’s offensive production is a different story altogether, and history tells us running the ball just won’t cut it against the Chiefs.

The Ravens had better learn how to keep Lamar Jackson upright this game, along with diagnosing all the other problems apparent in Monday’s loss. They have…oh brilliant, less than a week to do so.

Teams may not have “figured out” Jackson, but it seems like for now, the Chiefs have “figured out” the Ravens.