With the Baltimore Ravens losing in overtime to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night, many people view this game against the Kansas City Chiefs as a must-win game for the Ravens.
The Chiefs have had the Ravens’ number recently, winning the last three contests. However, considering the number of injuries that the Ravens have sustained this season, the odds are stacked against them.
It will take a miraculous effort from Lamar Jackson and this Ravens defense to come away with a victory.
It already looks like the Ravens’ backs are against the wall, so we’ll find out what this team is made of after this game.
Let’s look at five matchups to pay attention to heading into this game.
5. Odafe Oweh vs. Orlando Brown Jr.
The pass rush will be a huge storyline in this game. For the Ravens defense to have any chance of winning, they need to get pressure on Patrick Mahomes.
However, the Ravens have struggled to generate pressure without blitzing. And in the past few games against Mahomes, when they have blitzed, he has torn their defense apart.
Introducing Odafe Oweh. He is the draft pick that the Ravens’ received after trading Orlando Brown Jr. to the Chiefs.
That trade was heavily criticized at the time as the Ravens were arguably helping the Chiefs fix one of the few weaknesses.
However, this is the reason why the Ravens drafted Oweh. For a game like this. They needed a freak athlete on the edge who could get to the quarterback quickly.
Regardless, this is a huge game for Oweh. He showed out last week by recording his first sack and four pressures. He needs to have that same impact in this game.
If Oweh can generate pressure on Mahomes with his explosive speed, the game will tip in favor of Baltimore.