Baltimore Ravens are Enticing Bowl-lag for 3 causes

Lamar Jackson has led the Baltimore Ravens to the NFL Playoffs 5 cases within the six seasons for the explanation that franchise drafted him with the No. 32 pick within the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson became once named NFL MVP in 2019, and he’s poised to get the award for the 2d time this yr.

At this point, no one denies that Jackson is an elite QB, and with two more wins, he has the likelihood to flow down as an all-time huge.

Jackson ultimately has some better pass catching weapons this yr, and he additionally has arguably the NFL’s simplest protection to tumble abet on. There’s simplest one distress: standing on the opposite facet of the AFC Championship Sport is Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs. If right here is the yr Jackson and the Ravens ultimately leap forward, they need to flow thru the NFL’s simplest to attain it.

Right here’s three causes why the Ravens can fabricate the Enticing Bowl.

Affirm by Kirby Lee/Getty Photography

Lamar Jackson

Did you look what Josh Allen did final week? As wonderful because the Chiefs protection is that this season, they don’t in actuality delight in an answer for a mobile quarterback — giving up 72 yards speeding and two touchdowns. Rob that distress and 2 it exponentially, as a result of Jackson’s ability to mosey originate air the has marks takes away Kansas City’s simplest defensive weapon in its defensive position.

The ever-hiss likelihood of Jackson’s legs will power the Chiefs to legend for him with safety abet or a proper linebacker glimpse, which opens up the deep pass — one thing Baltimore has been feasting with all season lengthy.

As it stands it’s unclear if the Chiefs delight in the flexibility to take care of an improvisational likelihood adore Jackson, and if they don’t he’ll delight in an amazing sport.

Affirm by Todd Olszewski/Getty Photography

Mike Macdonald

Mike Macdonald has performed a masterful job with the Baltimore protection this season, parlaying that success into doable head teaching alternatives for next season. Nevertheless on Sunday he’ll face what’s possible his hardest take a look at yet, as he suits wits with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.

Alternatively, what Macdonald has constructed this yr locations him, and this Ravens protection, in an extraordinarily exact location to near out on high. Baltimore lead the conventional season with 60 sacks as a team, while blitzing at unbiased exact a 21.9% clipthe eighth-lowest percentage within the conventional season. The Ravens’ use of simulated pressures and various programs up entrance provides them an different to confuse both the offensive line, and the quarterback, while striking forward a numbers wait on within the secondary.

That provides the Ravens an different to pressure Mahomes on Sunday, while now no longer sacrificing numbers within the secondary. That will almost definitely be colossal for Baltimore within the AFC Championship Sport.

The team at M&T Bank Stadium

A almost definitely underrated component in final week’s Divisional Round sport between the Ravens and the Houston Texans?

The team at M&T Bank Stadium.

Ravens followers had been in tubby divulge from the first snap of the sport, and it had an affect. The Texans racked up 11 penalties in their loss, with the bulk of those coming sooner than the snap. Houston committed six inaccurate originate up penalties on my own, a truth head coach John Harbaugh significant in his put up-sport comments:

Now that same fanbase will salvage to attain one thing they delight in never performed sooner than: Cheer on the Ravens at home in an AFC Championship Sport. It will possible be even louder this Sunday than it became once final Saturday, which can also fabricate things that critical more challenging for Mahomes and the Chiefs offense.

If fact be told, Mahomes is possible to be expecting this. On an look on the Manningcast earlier this season, the Kansas City quarterback pointed to M&T Bank as one among the two loudest stadiums he’s ever played at within the NFL. “I’m mostly verbal,” Mahomes acknowledged to Peyton and Eli Manning. “The finest time I’ve been quiet is in Baltimore and in Seattle. … It became once so loud in those stadiums that [the] tackles couldn’t hear me.”