The Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs will meet in the AFC Championship game that will see Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes battle it out for a spot in the Super Bowl.
With the Ravens slaying the Houston Texans off the back of a dominant second half and the Chiefs doing enough on the road in Buffalo, the two meet with it all on the line.
USA TODAY Sports
If Baltimore is to reach its first Super Bowl since 2012, it will have to get past Mahomes. Having been to the AFC Championship game every year he has been the starter (six years), it is close to being named the Patrick Mahomes Invitational.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh knows the difficulty of trying to curtail a player of Mahomes’ caliber due to his ability to extend plays with his legs.
“I mean you got to factor it in, the fact that he extends plays,” Harbaugh said. “He buys time, he buys time to run sometimes, buys time to throw, he’s just a really elusive guy. You’ll see in space sometimes will make guys miss and all that so you know it’s just Patrick Mahomes. He’s unique, plays his own brand of football, been very successful. We’ll just have to study him and do our best to try to keep him under wraps.”
It does seem like a daunting task to send Mahomes packing as in his last three games, he hasn’t thrown an interception and has only been sacked twice.
But the Ravens’ defense has been suffocating this season. In the last four regular season games, Macdonald’s unit forced 12 turnovers, and although they didn’t manage one against C.J. Stroud and the Texans, the pressure put on was superb as Stroud was sacked three times.
More of that is needed against Mahomes and the Chiefs. If he is allowed time, he will slice and dice the Ravens’ secondary, but that’s where the feared pass rush comes in.
Mahomes is a tricky assignment for any team, that does things others simply can’t, but he is facing a defense that could be the best in football.
Harbaugh detailed the challenges that the defense will face, and stopping Mahomes from extending plays is job No. 1 for Macdonald’s defense if they are to advance to the Super Bowl.
