HappyDays

I usually agree, but the Lions have been an aggressive 4th down team all year long. Why would they stop now? Reynolds should have just caught the ball and then it's a genius decision.

Ben Johnson has been perfect. He's taken shots at the exact right times. He hasn't been afraid to keep running the ball to keep the offense steady. He's spreading the ball to his best players with no predictability from play to play. Congrats are in order to Washington fans. They suddenly have a real owner and are about to the best up and coming coach in the league leading their franchise.

Every season there are two MVPs - Mahomes and Allen. In seasons where neither of them get the #1 seed, the voters will justify giving it to someone else. But realistically it's those two and then everybody else.

What worries me about Goff in the Super Bowl is you can't miss as many opportunities as he has in this game. He missed a deep TD earlier, and that TD just now. It's not always going to be a perfect pocket against the Chiefs. Gotta hit those when they're there.

Poor Kyle Shanahan. He just can't get the QB right. Purdy is the best he's had yet and it still just isn't good enough.

The trick play was a great call and probably should have been a TD. Ben Johnson has been perfect so far. I'm surprised the Lions didn't go for it there. I'm a believer in committing to being the team that got you this far. The regular season Lions wouldn't have punted there.

I don't consider slot receivers to be true #1s. Kupp in his prime is the only slot player I've ever seen good enough to earn that label. But yes St. Brown is certainly an outstanding slot WR. And Gibbs has speed. But for me mostly it is just elite coaching that has the Lions performing this well. Not even Sean McVay made Goff look this good. Ben Johnson may be a super early career version of Andy Reid, he has been that good. I expect his offenses will still be dominating the league 20 years from now.

I came into the game thinking the 49ers would be the only team capable of beating the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. But now I'm thinking the Lions could do it. Ben Johnson vs Steve Spagnuolo is a heavyweight fight. I just wonder if the Lions defense is talented enough to slow the Chiefs down?

They don't have a true #1. Their offense is primarily just a coaching masterclass. That and an elite OL.

They didn't play well. It was historically bad efficiency given up. If you want to blame the players over the coaches, fine. It's still the reality of what happened though, and what keeps happening every time we face the Chiefs in the playoffs.

Bills are the only team this season that scored over 20 points against the Chiefs and lost the game.

All year the book on the Chiefs was score more than 20 points and you win the game. The Ravens game ends up being the same script. The Bills end the season being the ONLY team all year to score more than 20 on the Chiefs and lose the game. Another frustrating end to the season caused solely by our defense. And I see no path to fixing it next year. We're stuck in neutral. ****

Must be nice having a defensive coach that makes adjustments before it's too late.

Ravens defense in this game is actually a perfect example of what this thread is about... We gave up 8.5 yards per play to the Chiefs last week. Their offense averaged 5.5 YPP in the regular season. So we gave up a full 3 yards per play more than their average... As of 6:50 remaining in the 4th quarter (before the game ended on a dumb Lamar Jackson INT) the Ravens have given up 4.4 YPP. So they gave up 1.1 yards per play LESS than the Chiefs average... Ravens defense played amazing. It wasn't pretty early on but they made adjustments about halfway through the 2nd quarter and never let up from there. I'm actually angry watching Lamar and the Ravens offense waste a great defensive performance. If our defense had played this well last week we would have beaten the Chiefs by 10 points.

Sorry but Lamar has been flat out bad in this game. Way too many missed throws. He had one truly exceptional passing play and nothing else. Even his legs aren't getting him out of trouble as much as usual.

MVP has already been decided, it's voted on right after the regular season ends. The last time Lamar won the MVP and the #1 seed he got booted in the divisional round.

I hope people realize Mahomes misses a pass like that in every single game... So does every single QB... No such thing as a perfect game. He also misread a play earlier that would have been a TD and instead the drive ended on a 4th and 1 stuff by the Ravens. The Chiefs are winning this game because outside of Mahomes they've had like 4 or 5 other players step up and make exceptional plays.

For sure. I never blame rookies for losses. That's why they're rookies. Tough game for Flowers but he'll learn and the explosiveness is obviously for real.

Rookie mistake. You never dive for the plane when that many defensive players are around you. That is likely game.

Another stupid penalty from a Ravens player. Get your guys under control, Harbaugh.

Lamar has always had limitations as a passer. It's a legit concern about his game. In no way does that mean rushing TDs from a QB are less valuable.

I am so impressed by Mike McDonald's scheme. Single handedly keeping them in the game.

Lamar is wasting a very good Ravens defensive performance right now. His reputation as a playoff choker is not going away any time soon unless he finds a way back info this game.

To be fair that seems to be all the Chiefs defense is giving up. We had the same issue last week, we had to rely on our RBs as pass catchers.

Disagree with this. They are holding the Chiefs to 4.8 yards per play. For reference the Chiefs averaged 5.5 YPP in the regular season, they got 5.5 YPP against the Dolphins in the wildcard, and 8.5 YPP against us last week. Ravens defense is not the problem right now.