It's not often you hear those words used to describe the reigning Super Bowl champions, but the Chiefs didn't look like their dominant selves on Sunday. They didn't lead in the game until Harrison Butker's 58-yard game-winning field goal kick in overtime.
The Chargers provided a potential blueprint to slowing down Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense. Mahomes finished 27-of-47 for 302 yards and two touchdowns, but completed less than half of his passes in the first half. Tyreek Hill was held without a catch in the first half and dynamic rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire was limited to just 38 rushing yards.
The Baltimore Sun's Jonas Shaffer dove into the film and looked at two questions that could dictate Monday's matchup.
Shotgunformation could be an advantage.
"The bad news for Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo isn't that this Ravens offense has more talent than the Texans' or the Chargers'," Shaffer wrote. "It's that this Ravens offense is committed to using the kind of formations that the Texans and Chargers bludgeoned the Chiefs with. ...
In Baltimore, the Chiefs will face an offense that avoids traditional under-center formations like they're potholes. The Ravens have run 123 offensive plays this season. Only seven weren't out of a shotgun or pistol formation; three were in 1-yard-to-go scenarios, and the rest were kneel-downs."
Mahomescould change Ravens' blitz plans.
"The Ravens' first two matchups with Mahomes offer few clues as to how defensive coordinator Don 'Wink' Martindale might approach Monday's game," Shaffer wrote. "In 2018, Mahomes finished 16 of 22 for 180 yards and a touchdown against five or more Ravens pass rushers, according to ESPN. Overall, Mahomes went 35-for-53 for 377 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, one of his least impressive performances in a Most Valuable Player-worthy season.
"In 2019, it was a different story with a similar ending. According to a review of the Chiefs' Week 3 win, the Ravens blitzed just 17 times on Mahomes' 39 drop-backs. A defense that finished the season with a league-high 54.9% blitz rate sent five or more pass rushers after Mahomes just 43.6% of the time. (Even that rate might be inflated, as two 'blitzes' came on delayed, passive rushes by linebackers.)"
"[T]he two games we saw Mahomes struggle in was against a four-man rush, an unrelenting four-man rush," ESPN's Marcus Spears added."The Ravens are going to have to not only keep Jackson with the rock in his hand, but they also are going to have to make timely defensive plays."
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