We’re down to the final four in the NFL. Despite Kansas City and San Francisco having been in this mix multiple times over the past few years, simple logic points to Baltimore and Lamar Jackson finally breaking through. We also know the NFL tends to go “off script” sometimes in the postseason. The Ravens look like the best of who’s left, but that doesn’t mean it’s a foregone conclusion they’ll be the last team standing.
The Ravens haven’t been part of Championship Sunday in more than a decade, going back to when they beat the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. That game was dubbed the “Blackout Bowl” because of the power outage halfway through the game. That’s the last time Baltimore was good enough to make it through and hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Many expect the Ravens to stroll their way to the franchise’s third Super Bowl, especially since they dominated both NFC hopefuls during the regular season. In Week 7, they beat up Detroit, 38-6. Jackson was involved in four total touchdowns, throwing for three and rushing for another. He also torched the Lions for 357 yards through the air. Then on Christmas night, Jackson and crew stormed into the Bay Area and gave the Niners a work-over, 33-19. The score sounds a lot closer than it ever was in real-time.
Seemingly the only thing standing between the Ravens and a Super Bowl win is the Kansas City Chiefs. A team that struggled all season (mainly on offense), but once again finds themselves in the AFC title game. For the sixth consecutive year, the road to the big game in AFC goes through the Chiefs, however for the first time not in KC. Another reason most are looking at Baltimore and predicting them to come out on top.
Baltimore and Kansas City haven’t faced off in a couple of years, with the Ravens narrowly taking the last game over the Chiefs early in the 2021 campaign, 36-35. Looking at both squads this season, it doesn’t feel like the game should be that close. The way the Ravens have dominated lately they should be able to handle the Chiefs. But it’s awfully hard to overlook the best QB-head coach combo in the NFL with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid.
Kansas City has been a bit of an enigma this year in the sense that they flip-flopped. Their defense has improved so much from the past couple of years while the offense couldn’t seem to get out of its own way half the time. They certainly benefited from a down year in the AFC West. KC won the division while losing six games, which is the most they’ve lost since Mahomes’ rookie year in 2017. He started just one game that year, going 1-0.
Assessing the remaining field logically brings us to the Ravens being the most probable team to bring home the Lombardi. But similar to how everyone thought this was Buffalo’s best chance to usurp the champs, Baltimore has the same opportunity. Sure, they could do it, get to the Super Bowl, and run through the NFC representative. But there’s just something about that tandem from KC that we’ve seen so many times now that it’s hard to bet against them. Even when Las Vegas says the Chiefs are underdogs, it’s hard not to see them as favorites because they’ve still got No. 15 under center and “Big Red” calling plays.
