Chiefs-Ravens halftime analysis: This one has been all Chiefs. Let us recount the ways
Two of the three phases for the Chiefs were tremendous in the first half Monday night at Baltimore. A breakdown by the third kept the game from creeping into blowout territory
The Chiefs led 27-10. Patrick Mahomes had the hot hand, with three touchdown passes, including the first underhanded scoring toss of his career, and the defense did a superb job bottling up Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense.
A Ravens kick return for a touchdown, the first against the Chiefs since 2010, was Baltimore’s only first-half touchdown.
The Chiefs will get the ball to open the second half.
Mahomes had two of his top passing games in terms of yards against the Ravens, coming into Sunday’s game. He was on his way to another big game after completing 19-of-27 for 260 yards.
He became the fastest ever to 10,000 yards passing in the NFL in the first half.
The play call that produced the underhanded pass went to fullback Anthony Sherman. The Chiefs faced a third-and-goal from the 5. Tyreek Hill lined up behind Mahomes, Sherman off the line outside of the tackle. Sherman produced a chip block then turned around. The ball was there and Sherman could have walked into the end zone.
Mahomes’ second touchdown pass was a beautiful rainbow to Hill, who leaped over Marcus Peters to score from 20. It was the third straight game with a touchdown reception for Hill.
The third—a 49-yarder to Mecole Hardman—came against Ravens pressure. It was Mahomes’ second scoring pass when the Ravens rushed more than four.
Defense confuses Ravens
The Chiefs’ defense got off to a solid start. After allowing a 32-yard Lamar Jackson run on the game’s third snap, the Chiefs buckled down and stopped the Ravens in the red zone. Baltimore settled for a Justin Tucker 32-yard field goal to open the scoring.
The Ravens went backward on their next possession. Terrific coverage allowed Frank Clark and Chris Jones to get pressure on Jackson and force him out of bounds for a nine-yard loss on third down.
Jones then came up with the highlight play of the first half, a strip of Jackson that the Chiefs recovered at midfield.
Special teams breakdowns
A 32-yard completion from Mahomes to Hill against Peters’ soft coverage was the big gainer in the Chiefs’ first touchdown drive. Mahomes had a clear path on the right side from the 3 as the Chiefs took a 6-3 lead in the first quarter.
Harrison Butker, the hero of last week’s victory over the Chargers, missed the extra point.
A bigger gaffe awaited the special teams.
Darwin Thompson lost contain and allowed rookie return specialist Devin Duvernay to get to the outside. The Texas Longhorns product motored 93 yards to the touchdown to cut the Chiefs’ lead to 13-10.
Butker has the ability to sail the kickoff out of the back of the end zone. Why risk the return?
The kickoff return was the first return touchdown — kickoff or punt — against a Dave Toub-coached unit since he became the Chiefs’ special teams coach in 2013.
Butker, who made a pair of 58-yarders in L.A. last week, also missed a 42-yard field goal just before halftime. What a difference a week makes.
Andrew Wylie a scratch
A pregame surprise: right guard Andrew Wylie was listed among the inactives. Wylie had started the first two games and was not on the Chiefs’ injury report this week.
But The Star’s Herbie Teope reported Wylie showed up to the stadium feeling sick and was to be taken to a hospital with what has been reported to be appendicitis.
Mike Remmers, a nine-year pro who signed with the Chiefs in the offseason, got his first start this season. Remmers has been a starter for three different teams..
The good news from the pre-game participation report was the availability of both cornerback Charvarius Ward, who suffered a bone fracture in his hand in the Chiefs’ opening game, and Sammy Watkins. He suffered a neck injury in last week’s victory at the Chargers.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 8:46 PM with the headline "Chiefs-Ravens halftime analysis: This one has been all Chiefs. Let us recount the ways."