Chiefs vs. Ravens: Rush defense takes center stage in heavyweight tilt
Lamar Jackson faces off with Chiefs’ pass rush
Speaking of dropping back to throw the ball, this is the Chiefs single greatest advantage in this football game: Patrick Mahomes is a better passer than Lamar Jackson. That is most obviously true when the two are under pressure. And fortunately, Kansas City excels at generating pressure.
The Chiefs have generated pressure on 37.2 percent of QB dropbacks. Only the Steelers (42.6%) have been better in that department.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) September 22, 2020
If Kansas City can get out to a lead and force Jackson to move the ball through the air, we’ll get to see Chris Jones and Frank Clark forget about the run, pin their ears back and go to town.
The Baltimore offensive line needs to play at the top of their game. While the unit is excellent at run blocking, stopping constant pressure from premiere pass rush specialists like Kansas City employs is not necessarily their strength.
Without a doubt, the Ravens will try to run the football and, against this team, based on what we saw against the Chargers, they’ll likely find great success. But if they’re forced to play from behind, they’ll be forced to pass. We all saw what happened last year when that was true.