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The Baltimore Ravens are one of the newest teams in the NFL, but they have been dominant ever since joining the league. The Kansas City Chiefs are a much older team, and while they had their struggles for a long time, they are now in the midst of a dynasty. They will play each other in the AFC Championship Game in what is expected to be a thriller. The two team's recent successes in the postseason would make you think they have had some epic playoff duels over the last couple of decades, but the two have actually only played each other once before in the postseason. In this article, we will look at how that game went because it may not have gone as you would have expected.
Jan. 9, 2011: Ravens vs. Chiefs in the Wild Card Round
While the Kansas City Chiefs under Patrick Mahomes have been to six straight AFC Championship Games and had tons of recent postseason success, that wasn't always the case. Kansas City previously had a 50-year Super Bowl drought, and that included a stretch from the mid-'90s to the 2010s where the team lost seven straight playoff games.
During that time, the Baltimore Ravens were thriving. The Ravens became a team in 1996 (after the Chiefs playoff losing streak started in 1994), and they had tons of success early. The Ravens of the year 2000 had arguably the best defense ever. The team made the playoffs in all but five seasons from 2000 to 2014, and they even won Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XLVII.
In the middle of the Chiefs' losing streak and the Ravens' sustained success, the two teams battled in their only matchup against each other in the playoffs. Battle might be the wrong word, as the 2010 Wild Card matchup was a one-sided affair. The Ravens blew out the Chiefs with a 30-7 victory.
Going into that season, the Ravens already knew what they had. Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Haloti Ngata, and Terrell Suggs gave the team an elite defense year in and year out. Offensively, Joe Flacco wasn't perfect, but he could make big plays and teetered on the line of being elite in the eyes of many. The formula continued to work as the team went 12-4 in 2010. They had to play in the Wild Card Round, though, as the Pittsburgh Steelers owned the tiebreaker over them.
The Chiefs were somewhat more of an unknown. The team signed Matt Cassel the previous season, and as someone who had developed under Tom Brady, he was supposed to come in and be a top-tier quarterback. Things didn't work out that way right away, though, and Kansas City only won four games in Cassel's first year with the team. Year two under Cassel was different, though. The quarterback became a Pro Bowler, Jamaal Charles – the team's running back – became a megastar, and rookie safety Eric Berry made an immediate impact. The team improved all the way to a 10-6 record, and they earned a birth in the postseason.
The Wild Card matchup between the Ravens and Chiefs was supposed to be closely contested, but the Ravens' experience was too much for a young Chiefs team to overcome. The Baltimore defense got after Kansas City. They had three sacks and forced five turnovers. Two of the sacks were by Suggs, and the other came from Lewis. Lewis also forced a fumble, and Dawan Landry, Josh Wilson, and Haruki Nakamura each had an interception.
Both teams' defenses actually thrived to start the game, as the score was only 10-7 in the third quarter. Both the Ravens' offense and defense picked things up in the second half, though. In the 30-7 win, Flacco ended up throwing for 265 yards and two touchdowns: one to Ray Rice and one to Anquan Boldin. Willis McGahee also punched in a score on the ground. Baltimore's defense only allowed the Chiefs 25 total yards in the second half. While the Ravens ended up losing in the next round, it was still the third-biggest win in Ravens' postseason history and tied for the third-biggest loss in Chiefs' postseason history.
Jan. 28, 2024: Ravens vs. Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game
While the previous playoff matchup between these two teams was one-sided, that is not expected to be the case this year. The Chiefs are making their sixth straight appearance in the AFC Championship Game, and the Ravens are 13-4 and the one-seed in the AFC.
The Chiefs are more than familiar with playing in the Conference Championship, and they have advanced to the Super Bowl in three of the previous four seasons. Obviously, Patrick Mahomes leads the way. He is the best quarterback in the league, and although the team's offense wasn't up to their standards for much of the year, they have picked it up on that end in recent weeks. Travis Kelce is a megastar, and he has momentum after a two-touchdown performance last week. Rashee Rice has stepped up to be a much-needed number-one target at the receiver position, and it has led to Kansas City having two of their best offensive performances of the year over the last two playoff games.
What makes Kansas City scary is that their defense is now elite as well. The Chiefs only allow 17.3 points per game, which is the second-fewest in the NFL. The only team that allows offenses to score even less is the Ravens. Baltimore allows only 16.5 points per game. The Ravens' defense being great is nothing new, and they are hard to beat because of the style of play the team has. The Ravens are great at running the football on offense. Baltimore rushed for 2,661 yards this season, which was by far the most in the NFL. Lamar Jackson is one of the best rushing quarterbacks ever, and he is a nightmare for opposing defensive coordinators to game plan against.
The Ravens are favored by 3.5 points, and no one would doubt that they can get by the Chiefs. You can never count out Kansas City, though, as the Chiefs thrive in the AFC Championship Game.
