Chiefs DB rubs salt in Ravens wound with brutal quote on AFC Championship

Baltimore Ravens fans have been bombarded with jokes from rival fanbases about their performances in the 2023 AFC Championship Game, as John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken decided to abandon their running game in a brutal loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lamar Jackson was deprived of his primary way of dissecting defenses, which led to Kansas City pinning their ears back on defense. The Chiefs won a title after this game, and the defense sounds eternally thankful to the Ravens for their puzzling decision.

In an appearance on Chris Long's "Green Light" podcast, Chiefs safety Justin Reid was equal parts grateful for and confused by Baltimore's panic move. Kansas City went into the game trying to stop the run, and the Raven happily helped them achieve their goal.

"You know what, I'm not exactly sure why they abandoned it, but I'm glad that they did," Reid said. "That team is brute and brawn and is blue-collar and is going to run the ball down your throat...we knew if you don't stop the run, they're not going to stop running it. So, the emphasis was to stop the run and we wanted to make a statement there that we could both match and exceed that physicality."

Justin Reid mocks Baltimore Ravens for not running in AFC Championship

While Jackson is more than capable of winning games solely with his arm, the whole point of why Baltimore has been so effective in the Jackson era has been complementing a strong running game with Jackson's own speed and accuracy as a thrower. Going one-dimensional neuters all of that.

The worst part of Baltimore's play-calling was the stain it put on Monken during his first season. Not only did he help Jackson win his second MVP, but he looked like a massive improvement over Greg Roman.

The Ravens have taken some steps to make sure this doesn't happen again, signing Derrick Henry to a fairly sizable contract. They now have no excuse not to run the ball in the postseason, as it would be a disservice to all involved if they turned Henry into an extra pass blocker.

The Ravens will be good again this year, but the 2023 team had the potential to be an all-time great team that wins a championship. If they fail to recapture their past success in the 2024 season, Harbaugh's failures in 2023 will be even more difficult to swallow.