• The end of a historic franchise season: The Ravens hosted the AFC Championship game for the first time in team history after earning the conference's No. 1 seed during the regular season.
• A defensive masterclass goes unrewarded: Baltimore's defense held the Chiefs scoreless in the second half, but the offense couldn’t capitalize.
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Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
The Baltimore Ravens‘ season ended disappointingly with a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at home in the AFC Championship game
The defense shut down the Chiefs' offense in the second half, but the Ravens couldn’t finish drives on offense to mount a comeback and now head into the offseason with plenty of question marks.
Here are the five things we learned from the game.
Ravens fail to make adjustments in the passing game
Baltimore expertly adjusted its passing offense against the Houston Texans in the divisional round. Lamar Jackson’s average time to throw was 3.9 seconds in the first half but just 2.5 seconds in the second half. They were in rhythm, and it allowed them to take over the game.
The Ravens started similarly against the Chiefs, with Jackson averaging 3.1 seconds to throw in the first half — the highest of any quarterback during the conference championship games. This time, however, they didn’t adjust, with Jackson’s average going up to 3.9 seconds in the second half.
Jackson is the highest-graded quarterback in the NFL on plays with a time to throw of 2.6 seconds or more, which makes sense, given his ability to make things happen when players are covered. But his sweet spot is in the half-second between 2.6 and 3.0 seconds. Including the playoffs, he went 66-of-94 for 951 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions with a 91.1 PFF passing grade on such plays. On plays when Jackson took 3.1 seconds or longer to throw, his PFF passing grade ranked ninth (79.5).
Getting the ball out of Jackson's hand quicker In 2024 will be a top priority.
The offensive game plan indicated an anticipated shootout
When a game ends 17-10 and a team's running backs carried the ball only six times, questions are going to be asked. Indeed, the Ravens gave their running backs just two rushing attempts in the second half, a peculiar strategy when many had highlighted that as an area to exploit the Chiefs.
Arguably even more frustrating were Lamar Jackson’s four rushing attempts in the second half, none by design. Jackson remains the most dynamic quarterback in football, and although he enjoyed a career year as a passer, the Ravens will likely look back on this as a game where he could, and should, have taken over on designed runs in the second half.
Considering this game plan, the Ravens likely expected the Chiefs to score more points, both before the game and during it. Kansas City scored touchdowns on its opening two drives before being shut down by Baltimore in the second half.
In hindsight, approaching the game as if it were a shoutout was a mistake, but the idea that the Ravens might need to score 24 points rather than 10 in the second half was not one without logic. In the cold light of day, though, it just looks like the Ravens' offense wasted an excellent second half by the defense against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
The Ravens' defense stepped up again
Patrick Mahomes started the game as only Patrick Mahomes can, making improbable throws and guiding the Chiefs down the field to touchdowns on their opening two drives. It looked at that point like a classic Mahomes game in which the Chiefs would coast to a win. The Ravens' defense battled back, though, and we wound up watching one of the most enthralling tactical battles of the season.
The Ravens held Mahomes in the second half to a mere 4.8 yards per pass attempt and sacked him twice, something no other team had managed to do this postseason.
Linebacker Patrick Queen, in what might have been his final game as a Raven, was heroic in the third and fourth quarters, with all four of his tackles resulting in stops. The lone reception he allowed in primary coverage in the second half went for a loss of four yards.
Should defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald indeed become a head coach in the coming days, Baltimore will have huge shoes to fill.
WR, CB, OT and EDGE are among the top needs heading into the offseason
PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator comes for every fanbase at some point, and the time is now for Ravens fans to assuage the pain.
With the 30th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Baltimore could go in several directions, depending on how the board falls. A wide receiver who excels at separating, given the Ravens' struggles to get the ball out quickly, would help elevate the offense. And the team also needs to start thinking about a succession plan at both tackle spots.
On defense, they could look at edge defenders, especially with Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy set to hit free agency. Cornerback is another potential area to target, with Brandon Stephens slated to be a free agent and Marlon Humphrey struggling with injuries throughout 2023.
Big decisions loom ahead of free agency
The Ravens face some huge decisions about who to re-sign, with eight players who played 500 or more snaps this season currently slated to be free agents.
The biggest of those is interior defender Justin Madubuike, the sixth-ranked player in PFF’s free agency rankings and a player whom PFF’s Brad Spielberger projects to net a four-year deal worth $23 million per year. Madbubuike is 26 years old and entering his prime, so the Ravens will probably make a strong push to keep him around instead of losing him for a third-round compensatory draft pick next year.
Linebacker Patrick Queen is also projected to get more than $18 million per year on his next contract, and the Ravens' signing of Roquan Smith to a long-term deal last offseason likely means Queen will be playing elsewhere in 2024.
Some of the team's older veterans won’t command contracts on that level. Right guard Kevin Zeitler and edge defender Kyle Van Noy, both of whom earned 70.0-plus PFF grades this past season, are strong candidates to return.
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