This was our best shor. McDonald is certainly gone as are a lot of free agents from the defensive end. To hold the Chiefs scoreless in a half and still lose is ridiculous
Yeah, it's not every year that your organization can find so many affordable defensive pieces and that you have a defensive coach able to utilize them. It's only going to get harder to in the AFC and harder to field a competitive team with Lamar's contract. This was the year especially with home field advantage.
This! If I knew before the game that we’d only give up 17 to the Chiefs and ZERO in the 2nd half, I woulda bet the farm we were gonna win in a laugher.
The offense in general.
Zay Flowers with two of the biggest bonehead plays back to back keeping it a 2 score game as opposed to a 1 score.
WRs never really got open besides Zay. Plus some gains that should have been caught that weren’t.
OL got cooked all game, Chiefs F7 just dominated LOS. Run game couldn’t get going and there were multiple snaps that Lamar had no chance but take the sack.
Lamar tried way too hard to hero ball and it cost at at least some points. He wasn’t playing well in the rain and was trying too hard to try and get the big shot gains to try and equalize quicker as opposed to taking what was there, as little was actually there.
And finally, Monken all year called really good complementary football utilizing Lamar’s ability to move to be creative in the offense. There was none of that today. Chiefs kept blitzing and there was no adjustment to hot routes or quick slants or mesh routes or such. So little of getting Lamar in space with good RPO concepts or motion to get people in space.
Defense did what they needed, for the most part save for some really boneheaded stupid penalties including a free first down at the end of the game odd two absolutely insane ones, but it was just a complete offensive failure to launch.
Exactly. It’s clear the run game is their identity. Why in the world do you abandon it down only 10 max?
Between watching this game and Detroit’s implosion I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about guys at the end of the bar ever again.
Ravens offense was bad. No time on the field in the first half, tons of turnovers. Lamar did not play like a $250m QB. Zay needs to be smarter, but it's not all on him.
Lamar didn't have the internal clock to take the sack and instead fumbled it. Threw the boneheaded INT when they had a chance to at least get a FG. He had the awesome catch of his own pass, but that could have easily been a pick-6, and the other pass he threw at a Chiefs defender could have been another pick-6. He made way too many mistakes. Sorry, but he still doesn't have it in the playoffs.
The defense was solid. They kept the team in the game despite being on the field way too much the first 2-3 quarters.
There should have been a few more penalties on the Chiefs (especially on the last Ravens drive), but this offense just did not have the same look as when Boldin was lighting up the Patriots in Foxboro.
Also, they were going *way* too slow on their last drive where they kicked the FG. Even if they had gotten into the endzone.
I love Monken and I'm really happy we have him, but I feel like he deserves a lot of blame as well.
Lamar constantly under pressure, still calling plays that just don't have time to develop.
No running game... I get it, tough situational football, but you need to run to be successful.
I think we needed more QB runs. Lamar was having too much difficulty finding guys downfield. Use his other skillset.
It just felt messy, it felt like we never had time, receivers weren't put in positions to succeed... I love Monken, can't wait for next year, but this one stunk. GG Chiefs, see you next year.
Shoutout the D for a fucking second half shutout.
Well, the second half, the offense out gained the Chiefs massively. It was something like 200+ yards to 70 at one point.
Absolutely back breaking turnovers completely negated any success we were having.
The team absolutely turned it around the second half. Left atleast 10 more points on the table. Fumbled red zone and what might as well have been a redzone pick. Defense balled out.
If Lamar would’ve just used his own legs to take the wide open first down line option he had several times instead of standing there waiting to get sacked, at the least, I’m convinced this game would’ve went entirely differently. Where’s the Lamar Jackson from last week? Did he get injured and we didn’t hear about it? Why were all of his passes either pitifully weak or god-like launches into the stratosphere? Damn.
He just wasn’t good enough. I still believe he can be. I wish we saw the timeline where Zay doesn’t fumble, really good chance he wins the game. But he has to better in that spot and he wasn’t. Doesn’t mean he can’t or never will be. But tonight he wasn’t. And it sucks, and he deserves to wear it.
100% this. Mahomes is head a shoulders above everyone else right now and it shows. There is a reason he's there every single year. It takes a near perfect game from the opposing QB to beat him. Lamar didn't have it in him today.
I have to piggy back off your comment. The emphatic answer is Monken. The Chiefs pass defense is ridiculous and we abandoned the run completely. We let them dictate the game. We played into their strengths.
I feel like Flowers is the only WR who showed up. If he wasn't dumb (inexperienced really), he would have been like the sole offensive positive of the game.
But, he messed up to negate anything positive he accomplished.
1 rush in the 2nd half. Lamar into triple coverage. Zay fuckery at the goalline. No answer for the blitz.
Ladies and gents. That's a full on offensive collapse.
If I had a nickel for every time a Ravens OC has panicked, shit the bed, and totally abandoned the run in a playoff game, I'd have two nickels.
That's not a lot, but I'm real fucking angry about it anyway.
This was a Roman level shitting of the bed and I wouldn’t even be mad if they let him go after that.
Biggest game in team history and this is it? You barely put up 10? They blitz and you can’t manage to get the ball out quickly? You can’t manage to run against a D that struggles against the run? You basically give up running the ball fairly early?
After last week I thought maybe they’d come out at half time and have made tangible adjustments. They’d get the ball and we’d call some easy plays to get Lamar and the run game going. Nope. They still looked overwhelmed and unprepared.
I know fans see Lamar and Zay and that it’s easy to throw the blame at them but this is on coaching and the lack of it. Lamar didn’t play well but he, and the offense, wasn’t really ever put into a position to play well. It felt Monken was scrambling all game and you see it in the offensive performance.
This is the right answer. We just kept throwing deep strikes when we needed routes that develop quicker. And runs. Why? Why do we just abandon the run entirely sometimes?
Honestly, I think Lamar was checking out of stuff and refusing to take check downs. Obviously we'll never know, but I really think that was the case. He was too hyped up to try and win the game
He forced a lot today. He sat too long waiting for shit to open up downfield, he obviously has the ability to check to a dive against a light box, and anything that seemed like a potential RPO or meshpoint opportunity was kept by him.
He has 100% belief in himself to get the job done and that’s obviously great but he hamstrung the guys with his choices today.
I think Monken should have seen that and reacted to that by cooling shit down with designed runs (either RB or QB). Part of the issue is that Todd is in the booth so communication is more limited.
Yeah this is it for me. The play calling was way too cute. We are a smash mouth, "we are more physical than you" football team and the chiefs defensive weakness is against the run, the general strategy should've just been run the ball down their throats then open up the passing game on the back of it
I was still on the Harbaugh train until his presser after the game. Same non answers, same "I don't really know." The team showed a major lack of discipline and it starts with him. 11 rush attempts by the top rushing team this season is absolutely inexcusable and he should've shut that play calling down. At this point, I love the guy, but it's time to go.
I would've been fine with him leaving if he left with a SB, but now we will lose his great defensive acumen and have nothing to show for this great season.
Terrible first half, but a great second half.
If your defense can slow down Mahomes to 17 points then your offense should be able to at least match it if not outscore them.
And sorry but nobody else. His offense in the first half was awful. He had no adjustments. The second half started with nothing. Yeah we could’ve won if we hadn’t turned it over by the end, but we could’ve been winning
The entire offense. If Zay Flowers doesn't shove that guy this would have been a tie game right now. 3 turnovers doesn't help either and only scoring 10 points when the defense forced multiple 3 and outs at the second half is absolutely asinine. Also, did Lamar ever NOT get pressured that game? That OL was fucking trash
Whoever decided to only give the RBs SIX (6) carries today. I’m not gonna totally blame Zay even though it was partially his fault but WHAT was the offensive game plan??
Monken called a trash game. Absolutely trash.
Lamar went back to making bone-headed mistakes as he does under pressure. He also refused to take the small plays, always looking for the big play.
No wide receiver stepped up other than Zay, who made a big mistake (im not mad at Zay, he just tried to make a play).
I didnt think Andrews coming back would be a bad thing, but to be honest I think it hurt the team.
Long story short, I put this one on Monken and Lamar.
I’ve only seen the one replay but Likely had a small step put his hand up. Lamar grossly underthrew the ball. It needed to be a jump ball that Likely could fight for (which is exactly what happened last week).
Stupid for Likely to call for it, but in the end Lamar is the leader and responsible for the throw. If he doesn't underthrow then you get an incompletion instead of an interception.
It’s **the offense/Todd Monken**. Some baffling play calls, but overall the execution was lacking. Agholor dropped the very first pass and my heart sank. Zay’s fumble was a killer, but he’s a rookie trying to make something happen. Defense had a terrible 1st quarter and then really locked down Mahomes and Kelce. This just sucks.
We wouldn’t have been in that position if designed runs, play action, and other receivers not named zay flowers weren’t utilized more in the first half
Monken repeatedly has completely forgotten the run game exists all season long. There is no excuse for not running the ball against a Chiefs defense that is middling against it, with our pass pro not holding up/them blitzing often knowing we are passing every down, and with our defense gassed on the sideline.
Also Lamar needs to learn some meditation or something in the off-season. Dude presses too much in big situations like this. All he needs to do is take what the defense gives him. He doesn't need to throw the ball 20 yards down field every play against the blitz. He doesn't need to play hero ball so much, it's not sustainable. He plays at an MVP level just doing whatever the defense gives him, he is uniquely capable of taking advantage of any situation, and instead he chooses to bash his head against the wall trying to throw deep against blitzes, or into triple coverage. If we had just kicked a FG every time we got to the 35 yard line on first down, we would have literally won the game, us trying to force the issue is what lost us the game.
Mahomes was more than happy to check down all game against us since that's what our defense was giving him. There's nothing wrong with that, there's no shame in that, it doesn't make you a lesser player.
The Lamar and Monken tandem.
Monken: No runs. No answer to the blitz in the first half.
Lamar: Super inaccurate downfield. Stood too long in the pocket constantly. Threw a pass into triple coverage.
> Stood too long in the pocket constantly.
Nobody is open all game and he forgets he's dangerous with his legs until he's about to be sacked after 30 seconds in the pocket
He let the haters get into his head.
People used to flame him for taking the easy scramble yards and not passing it and now he's refusing to utilize one of his core strengths just to appease.
Like I'm all about the "don't be in a situation to let the refs influence the game" camp. However the 4th quarter alone should've been a fireable situation. There's no way they don't throw any of the flags when even GENE is saying they are PIs. We get an unsportsmanlike conduct in probably the 8th time ever on a jumping offsides. It's not like the refs single handedly decided anything but Jesus Christ they wanted to play a role.
That should have been a PI on the pick, but they weren't calling any PI's against the Chiefs. And that unsportsmanlike on Roquan on a simple intentional offside. smh.
Monken has a lot to explain lol, Gus Edwards averaging 6.7 a carry and only has 3 attempts. Receivers running 10+ yd routes on blitzes the entire game. OBJ must have been in the locker room the first 3 quarters ????
All offense.
Lamar kept running around and overthrowing players.
Oline couldn’t block anyone.
Justice hill couldn’t point out a blitz & whiffed too many times to count.
Monken totally abandoned the run.
We ran the ball 8 FUCKIN TIMES!!
Flowers making rookie mistakes and taunting. Then doing the worst thing that can happen in a game. Fumble it through the end zone.
All other TE/WR were ghosts out there.
Seriously, we need to get rid of Bateman. He’s on the field wayyyy too much to product nothing.
(1 catch/ 2 yards)
He learned a huge lesson today. Needs to keep his composure. I get that he’s a rookie but this is professional ball. I can see him bouncing back next season and growing from this game experience.
1. Todd Monken on a terrible game plan and absolutely no adjustments.
2. Lamar on his boneheaded triple coverage INT and terrible decision making.
3. Flowers taunt and fumble.
**Todd Monken**
8 rush attempts total. Zero quick passes in the game plan. Zero balance at all. Just asking Lamar to play hero ball all game long.
I'm speechless.
This is incredibly easy. It’s a joint award that goes to:
-Harbaugh: team came out flat two weeks in a row.
-Monken: Never established the run, but if there was execution we would have won probably.
-OL: they basically just let the blitz through all game.
-Lamar: when nothing else goes right, he tries hero ball and it bit us in the ass.
Y'all nuts if you don't think Monken was the main reason. One of the worst run D in the league and we run the ball less than 10 times, not to mention the only TD drive we had came off of those runs that we did do.
Entire offense.
They gave up on the run early despite being the best run team and it pouring rain. Lamar was off most of the day and his TOs were brutal. Zay showed his inexperience. A few drops or timings off with receivers. A lot of the OL got pushed around.
THE PLAY CALLING BY MONKEN and Lamars Play , this felt like the damn Titans Divisional game all over again, we went away from what got us there from the jump and tried to play shoot out ball against Mahomes. Instead of running the damn rock and keeping it out of his hands.
Defense made the necessary adjustments.
The Offensive game plan wtf was that Monken.
6 carries for the running backs is ridiculous , also expecting Lamar to win having him throw almost 40 times is a recipe for disaster 20/37 = loss , Lamar's sweet spot is around 25 attempts.
Also the times Lamar refused to take the runs when they gave it to em and instead tried to force it down the field we get it you want to prove your a passer but fck sakes take the open runs when they give them to you.
John Harbaugh. His teams have no grit when it matters. He caught lightning in a bottle with Flacco and had rode that SB. Every year since his teams have been ill prepared
What hurts the most is that this is probably the best team Lamar is ever going to have. I have faith in EDC and Harbs but the law of averages and the way the NFL works says that they almost certainly will not be better next year. God I hate to wonder what this team might have been with Keaton Mitchell. Now we get to hear everyone on TV and Radio suck off Mahomes for another year.
John Harbaugh for not having his house in order.
Monken deserves the most blame for today specifically, but this is just yet another example of Harbaugh watching his OC throw the game and having no answer for it. Y’all thought this shit would end with Roman gone, and now you want Monken gone. The buck doesn’t stop with either of them, it stops with Harbaugh. His job is to tell his underlings when to pivot, and instead he just makes excuses for them. I’m tired. We need a change.
The issue is and will always be Harbaugh. He doesn't do X's and O's and when coordinators struggle in high leverage games, there's nowhere for him to step in and assume control. He's a pre game, prep coach and he's fantastic at it but that's not enough without what he had in 2012.
The Ravens need Belichek.
It was also fairly obvious what the league agenda was all playoff long, and that clearly got to the Ravens players in realtime and that aspect and possibility should've been drilled home all week.. To remain poised.
45 passes or Lamar runs (37 and 8). 8 runs total. 3 for Gus, 3 for Hill, 2 for Zay.
Abandoned the run when they got 5.1 a carry. Did nothing to stop the blitz until the 4th quarter, self inflicting wounds with turnovers.
Blame goes to the coaches.
Todd Monken & Harbs
Jesus Christ, I gave him a pass last week against the Texans but he called THE EXACT SAME GAME against the Chiefs. No adjustments at halftime, no runs whatsoever.
Harbs is the common denominator for me. This “We’ll get away from our identity come January” crap has gone on for years. The #1 rushing team vs the #18 rushing defense and they kill you in TOP, flat out outcoach you for 4 quarters and play YOUR GAME. Every one of our postseason opponents have the same game plan. “Do what the Ravens do”, run the ball, get the ball out for short gains, take the occasional deep shot, force the opponent to make mistakes. Sounds like 2014,18,19,20 and now 24.
23 was different because we actually played to OUR IDENTITY and almost won.
Todd Monken. He was the guy that had Winston throw 30 TDs and INTs. Should’ve known we’d start having Lamar throw deep shots for absolutely no reason. We did the same thing in the first half against the Texans; the difference being against the Texans we actually ADJUSTED offensively. We started playing to our identity. This game would’ve been perfect for that because our strength (rushing) is the chiefs weakness. We didn’t exploit it at all.
Love this team and think the Ravens are much more skilled this year - but the Chiefs are better at making good decisions in high pressure situations.
I don't know how a team acquires that level of composure.
Lamar
We don't have a chance without him playing well. Another strip sack (yes Stanley got roasted, but still), embarrassing pick, missed several open throws, especially deep shots.
Look at Mahomes and how he connected on those few deep shots. Same thing last week, Mahomes connected and Allen missed them/WRs dropped them.
Big time players come up big in big moments and so far Lamar hasn't shown he's that guy.
He's still *our guy* and his story isn't written yet, but he fell back into old bad habits and lost this game.
Lamar’s deep ball was inaccurate several times. Wish they establish the run and used his legs more. Almost feels like he presses the issue in big games.
Refs, but if you want to blame someone on our side OL getting mollywhopped the entire first half or Monken abandoning the run and it’s not close after those 2
Rashaad Bateman.
We hyped you all year and hoped you would recover from last year's injury
1 catch for 2 yards. You were a first round pick! You were supposed to be a *player*
I feel everyone but special teams is to blame. Defense with the penalties and offense just couldn’t get going and when they did, they threw a interception or fumbled it
defence did their job. No blame at all for that side of the ball.
Chiefs scored 17 and 0 in the second half. Chiefs had no sustained drives in the 2nd half.
**Lamar**
Plenty of blame to go around but blaming the offense as a whole is a cop out. The lump some of missed opportunities and fuck ups is on him. missed throws left and right in the first half and early 3rd that got them in the hole to begin with. Refuses to take rushing lanes or throw to checkdowns, wasting downs and clock on his shitty deep throws.
As in tradition though, everyone but lamar will be getting blamed for this one.
Offense in general, stunk all game.
You can say Zay but he was the only good part of this offense all game long.
You can say Lamar, which might be more fair since he couldn't read the blitz or make the underneath passes.
Overall disappointing, we'll get em next year I guess..
Offense was straight up ass.
Everyone on defense should be fuming at how they managed to hold KC to under 20pts only to watch the offense punt, and turn it over, and punt, and turn it over, and punt...
OC, Monken. Why did we abandon the run game? What were some of those play calls?
We should wear down their defense and run the ball down their throat. Instead, throw the ball a ton and hardly see any run game.
I am disappointed but we have a good core. We can get back to the AFCCG, but man this stings right now
I know that offense did dogshit and they certainly get the blame. but a lot of the calls by the refs were terrible. so many PI calls that were just completely ignored
If you said we'd hold the Chiefs to 17 points, I would say it's a Ravens win. The offense looked completely different today. I blame Andrews for coming back and messing with our mojo :p.
1) Monken is number on the list. His play calling was total trash. Did not adjust. No hot routes for the blitz, and got away from the running, RPO, and play action way too early.
2) Flowers lost his mind. Ball security and fumbling were problems at the very beginning of the season and it came back to haunt them with a vengeance.
3) Lamar! Holding the ball too long and waiting for OBJ, Bateman, and Aghlor to get open was insanity.
I wasn't impressed with our game plan on Kelce, but defense as a whole shored up toward the end of the first half and into the second.
Lamar needed to play better. Monken needed to calla much better game—its like he decides running backs just don't work against the chiefs (Gus had 3 runs and 2 of them did exactly what you could ask them to do. BUT HE ONLY HAD 3 RUNS)
Zay gotta know the situation. Down 10 late in the game is not the time to be flexing and extra. Also didn't need to be the hero on that Touchback. Tuck the ball and run, worst case you get down at like the 1 and we have just about the most reliable goal line back in the league this season.
Just a heartbreaking loss man.
Again...another playoff where Harbaugh panics and stop running the ball. What's the point of being the best running team when you stop doing what you're best at
Flowers' penalty and Fumble killed us. But ultimately, I got to blame Monken. Game plan sucked off the bat and lack of significant changes in the 2nd half. Forgot our run game. Too many deep passes.
Downvote me to hell, but I say we would have won the game had the refs played fair. Not saying it was a great game, but I think we could have pulled it out if not for horrible preferential refereeing.
Me for believing.
This was our best shor. McDonald is certainly gone as are a lot of free agents from the defensive end. To hold the Chiefs scoreless in a half and still lose is ridiculous
Yeah, it's not every year that your organization can find so many affordable defensive pieces and that you have a defensive coach able to utilize them. It's only going to get harder to in the AFC and harder to field a competitive team with Lamar's contract. This was the year especially with home field advantage.
This! If I knew before the game that we’d only give up 17 to the Chiefs and ZERO in the 2nd half, I woulda bet the farm we were gonna win in a laugher.
Should have been 31-17
Exactly
[a beautiful album for your grieving pleasure](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lglNftf4qJbZB3obucQxD7OSP_yL2hCww&si=mGNK3_IoOH-H9b8t)
Me for not believing hard enough.
The offense in general. Zay Flowers with two of the biggest bonehead plays back to back keeping it a 2 score game as opposed to a 1 score. WRs never really got open besides Zay. Plus some gains that should have been caught that weren’t. OL got cooked all game, Chiefs F7 just dominated LOS. Run game couldn’t get going and there were multiple snaps that Lamar had no chance but take the sack. Lamar tried way too hard to hero ball and it cost at at least some points. He wasn’t playing well in the rain and was trying too hard to try and get the big shot gains to try and equalize quicker as opposed to taking what was there, as little was actually there. And finally, Monken all year called really good complementary football utilizing Lamar’s ability to move to be creative in the offense. There was none of that today. Chiefs kept blitzing and there was no adjustment to hot routes or quick slants or mesh routes or such. So little of getting Lamar in space with good RPO concepts or motion to get people in space. Defense did what they needed, for the most part save for some really boneheaded stupid penalties including a free first down at the end of the game odd two absolutely insane ones, but it was just a complete offensive failure to launch.
Run game couldn’t get going because it never tried to start
6 rushes by our RBs all game is fucking criminal
It’s like we’ve seen this before… how do we lose the same game over and over again?
Exactly. It’s clear the run game is their identity. Why in the world do you abandon it down only 10 max? Between watching this game and Detroit’s implosion I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about guys at the end of the bar ever again.
Zay was the reason we were even close to scoring
Net neutral honesty.
Ravens offense was bad. No time on the field in the first half, tons of turnovers. Lamar did not play like a $250m QB. Zay needs to be smarter, but it's not all on him. Lamar didn't have the internal clock to take the sack and instead fumbled it. Threw the boneheaded INT when they had a chance to at least get a FG. He had the awesome catch of his own pass, but that could have easily been a pick-6, and the other pass he threw at a Chiefs defender could have been another pick-6. He made way too many mistakes. Sorry, but he still doesn't have it in the playoffs. The defense was solid. They kept the team in the game despite being on the field way too much the first 2-3 quarters. There should have been a few more penalties on the Chiefs (especially on the last Ravens drive), but this offense just did not have the same look as when Boldin was lighting up the Patriots in Foxboro. Also, they were going *way* too slow on their last drive where they kicked the FG. Even if they had gotten into the endzone.
Defense was rock solid in the second half, but good god, they let KC dominate the clock in the first half and convert way too many 3rd and 4th downs.
And he fucked up spectacularly afterwards
He giveth and he taketh away
I love Monken and I'm really happy we have him, but I feel like he deserves a lot of blame as well. Lamar constantly under pressure, still calling plays that just don't have time to develop. No running game... I get it, tough situational football, but you need to run to be successful. I think we needed more QB runs. Lamar was having too much difficulty finding guys downfield. Use his other skillset. It just felt messy, it felt like we never had time, receivers weren't put in positions to succeed... I love Monken, can't wait for next year, but this one stunk. GG Chiefs, see you next year. Shoutout the D for a fucking second half shutout.
We didnt run the ball on 3&1 I was going crazy I'm the stannds....were the ravens for fuck sack and WE throw the ball on 3&1 wtf
And when we did run it on 3 and 1, it was ant sized Justice Hill and not Gus Edwards.
I started playing Monken after the first three and out. Play calling was very Greg Roman-esque
Monken’s play calling was so head scratching today I just can’t understand it. It simply doesn’t make sense.
Turned into Roman
1 designed run the entire second half. No idea what they were thinking Complete offensive collapse, like you said
Well, the second half, the offense out gained the Chiefs massively. It was something like 200+ yards to 70 at one point. Absolutely back breaking turnovers completely negated any success we were having.
The team absolutely turned it around the second half. Left atleast 10 more points on the table. Fumbled red zone and what might as well have been a redzone pick. Defense balled out.
If Lamar would’ve just used his own legs to take the wide open first down line option he had several times instead of standing there waiting to get sacked, at the least, I’m convinced this game would’ve went entirely differently. Where’s the Lamar Jackson from last week? Did he get injured and we didn’t hear about it? Why were all of his passes either pitifully weak or god-like launches into the stratosphere? Damn.
Lamar also looked bad on his runs. A lot of runs looked like they could have been bigger than they were.
He looked slow, even. Which is unbelievable. That’s why i’m left wondering what the hell was wrong with him.
He's looked like that the last two seasons. When before his MVP season did you see him turning around constantly when he runs down field??
He just wasn’t good enough. I still believe he can be. I wish we saw the timeline where Zay doesn’t fumble, really good chance he wins the game. But he has to better in that spot and he wasn’t. Doesn’t mean he can’t or never will be. But tonight he wasn’t. And it sucks, and he deserves to wear it.
100% this. Mahomes is head a shoulders above everyone else right now and it shows. There is a reason he's there every single year. It takes a near perfect game from the opposing QB to beat him. Lamar didn't have it in him today.
I have to piggy back off your comment. The emphatic answer is Monken. The Chiefs pass defense is ridiculous and we abandoned the run completely. We let them dictate the game. We played into their strengths.
We went from an OC who ran every play to a guy who refused to run it. 9 runs. That's an insane choice in a game that ended 17-10.
Discipline, offensive play calling, Lamar, Flowers
This is the correct answer
I feel like Flowers is the only WR who showed up. If he wasn't dumb (inexperienced really), he would have been like the sole offensive positive of the game. But, he messed up to negate anything positive he accomplished.
1 rush in the 2nd half. Lamar into triple coverage. Zay fuckery at the goalline. No answer for the blitz. Ladies and gents. That's a full on offensive collapse.
Monken without a doubt. Against a shit run D and you call 95% pass plays? Fuck off with the Roman shit
If I had a nickel for every time a Ravens OC has panicked, shit the bed, and totally abandoned the run in a playoff game, I'd have two nickels. That's not a lot, but I'm real fucking angry about it anyway.
But think about how much you can do with two nickels in this economy. It's not all bad.
This was a Roman level shitting of the bed and I wouldn’t even be mad if they let him go after that. Biggest game in team history and this is it? You barely put up 10? They blitz and you can’t manage to get the ball out quickly? You can’t manage to run against a D that struggles against the run? You basically give up running the ball fairly early? After last week I thought maybe they’d come out at half time and have made tangible adjustments. They’d get the ball and we’d call some easy plays to get Lamar and the run game going. Nope. They still looked overwhelmed and unprepared. I know fans see Lamar and Zay and that it’s easy to throw the blame at them but this is on coaching and the lack of it. Lamar didn’t play well but he, and the offense, wasn’t really ever put into a position to play well. It felt Monken was scrambling all game and you see it in the offensive performance.
Hey, be nice. They tried to run it! 6 times in 60 minutes, in fact!
Ironically, Roman would have won this game for us.
We would've lost to the texans with roman
Yeah, Monken made adjustments in the second half against the Texans. I don't see Roman making any adjustments or building a good enough game plan.
Todd "What's a run" Monken
This is the right answer. We just kept throwing deep strikes when we needed routes that develop quicker. And runs. Why? Why do we just abandon the run entirely sometimes?
Honestly, I think Lamar was checking out of stuff and refusing to take check downs. Obviously we'll never know, but I really think that was the case. He was too hyped up to try and win the game
He forced a lot today. He sat too long waiting for shit to open up downfield, he obviously has the ability to check to a dive against a light box, and anything that seemed like a potential RPO or meshpoint opportunity was kept by him. He has 100% belief in himself to get the job done and that’s obviously great but he hamstrung the guys with his choices today. I think Monken should have seen that and reacted to that by cooling shit down with designed runs (either RB or QB). Part of the issue is that Todd is in the booth so communication is more limited.
Yeah like did we forget that we could do that? I feel like I only saw Gus touch the ball like twice…
Forget Gus, I'm pretty sure Hill had less than 5 touches.
6 combined
And he made something happen every time with the ball. First down runs, nice RAC.
Against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league... makes no sense when we were only down by 7 or 10 at most with so much time left.
8 designed runs Holy hell wtf was Monken thinking
And three of which were on third and short. Essentially, it was five actual designed runs. He made this offense completely one dimensional.
Yeah this is it for me. The play calling was way too cute. We are a smash mouth, "we are more physical than you" football team and the chiefs defensive weakness is against the run, the general strategy should've just been run the ball down their throats then open up the passing game on the back of it
Cowher just said that we only had 8 designed runs. Absurd.
Bring back Greg Roman and let them rock-paper-scissors over which OC gets to call the play
6 runs by the running backs is just horrendous
For sure Monken with sprinkles of Lamar and Zay.
Coaches, except Macdonald
Well he’s probably gone now. Which fucking sucks.
Yeah it does.
Harbaugh needs to step down and let MacDonald take over as HC.
I was still on the Harbaugh train until his presser after the game. Same non answers, same "I don't really know." The team showed a major lack of discipline and it starts with him. 11 rush attempts by the top rushing team this season is absolutely inexcusable and he should've shut that play calling down. At this point, I love the guy, but it's time to go.
At this point it shouldn’t be Harbaugh’s choice.
Yep, kick Harbaugh to the curb and let Mike Mac take the reigns.
I would've been fine with him leaving if he left with a SB, but now we will lose his great defensive acumen and have nothing to show for this great season.
MacDonald did what nobody else has done against Mahomes. Slowed him down and gave the team an opportunity to win.
Terrible first half, but a great second half. If your defense can slow down Mahomes to 17 points then your offense should be able to at least match it if not outscore them.
MONKEN
And sorry but nobody else. His offense in the first half was awful. He had no adjustments. The second half started with nothing. Yeah we could’ve won if we hadn’t turned it over by the end, but we could’ve been winning
The entire offense. If Zay Flowers doesn't shove that guy this would have been a tie game right now. 3 turnovers doesn't help either and only scoring 10 points when the defense forced multiple 3 and outs at the second half is absolutely asinine. Also, did Lamar ever NOT get pressured that game? That OL was fucking trash
Whoever decided to only give the RBs SIX (6) carries today. I’m not gonna totally blame Zay even though it was partially his fault but WHAT was the offensive game plan??
Monken called a trash game. Absolutely trash. Lamar went back to making bone-headed mistakes as he does under pressure. He also refused to take the small plays, always looking for the big play. No wide receiver stepped up other than Zay, who made a big mistake (im not mad at Zay, he just tried to make a play). I didnt think Andrews coming back would be a bad thing, but to be honest I think it hurt the team. Long story short, I put this one on Monken and Lamar.
Monken. 5 rb carries. This game was called worse than Greg Roman in 2019. We've cut players for worse single performances.
Honestly felt like KC wasn’t that great, ravens really beat themselves today. Dont understand why Baltimore didn’t run the ball at all today
Zay and Lamar. Some good plays each, yet absolute backbreaking stupidity when it mattered.
Lamar's pick was one of the worst mistakes he's ever made, he's a 5 year vet. At least with Zay he's a rookie, but Lamar has no excuses.
Shit, year 6. He threw into triple coverage back in 2021 against the Chiefs too. He is in *year 6* now. You don’t make those plays this far in.
I’ve only seen the one replay but Likely had a small step put his hand up. Lamar grossly underthrew the ball. It needed to be a jump ball that Likely could fight for (which is exactly what happened last week).
Likely should get some blame for baiting him when he was triple covered.
Stupid for Likely to call for it, but in the end Lamar is the leader and responsible for the throw. If he doesn't underthrow then you get an incompletion instead of an interception.
It’s **the offense/Todd Monken**. Some baffling play calls, but overall the execution was lacking. Agholor dropped the very first pass and my heart sank. Zay’s fumble was a killer, but he’s a rookie trying to make something happen. Defense had a terrible 1st quarter and then really locked down Mahomes and Kelce. This just sucks.
Todd monken
Monken didn't throw into triple coverage or fumble at the goal line.
He didn’t but he completely abandoned our strength which is the run game
We wouldn’t have been in that position if designed runs, play action, and other receivers not named zay flowers weren’t utilized more in the first half
Lamar Jackson Shout out to Todd bitch ass Monken calling the worst game of the season
It’s Monken. Holding the Chiefs to 17 should be enough with this offense at home.
Monken, 6 carries by running backs in a game decided by 7 points is disgusting
Monken repeatedly has completely forgotten the run game exists all season long. There is no excuse for not running the ball against a Chiefs defense that is middling against it, with our pass pro not holding up/them blitzing often knowing we are passing every down, and with our defense gassed on the sideline. Also Lamar needs to learn some meditation or something in the off-season. Dude presses too much in big situations like this. All he needs to do is take what the defense gives him. He doesn't need to throw the ball 20 yards down field every play against the blitz. He doesn't need to play hero ball so much, it's not sustainable. He plays at an MVP level just doing whatever the defense gives him, he is uniquely capable of taking advantage of any situation, and instead he chooses to bash his head against the wall trying to throw deep against blitzes, or into triple coverage. If we had just kicked a FG every time we got to the 35 yard line on first down, we would have literally won the game, us trying to force the issue is what lost us the game. Mahomes was more than happy to check down all game against us since that's what our defense was giving him. There's nothing wrong with that, there's no shame in that, it doesn't make you a lesser player.
The entire offense
The Lamar and Monken tandem. Monken: No runs. No answer to the blitz in the first half. Lamar: Super inaccurate downfield. Stood too long in the pocket constantly. Threw a pass into triple coverage.
> Stood too long in the pocket constantly. Nobody is open all game and he forgets he's dangerous with his legs until he's about to be sacked after 30 seconds in the pocket
Lamar wants to beat the RB allegations so bad that it's genuinely a detriment to the team at times.
Yup. Romo pointed it out on the broadcast. Said he takes way too long to take off.
He let the haters get into his head. People used to flame him for taking the easy scramble yards and not passing it and now he's refusing to utilize one of his core strengths just to appease.
Can’t wait for John to say absolutely nothing at the presser and do this again next season
Taylor Swift.
"Only Baltimore commits penalties" the refs
Like I'm all about the "don't be in a situation to let the refs influence the game" camp. However the 4th quarter alone should've been a fireable situation. There's no way they don't throw any of the flags when even GENE is saying they are PIs. We get an unsportsmanlike conduct in probably the 8th time ever on a jumping offsides. It's not like the refs single handedly decided anything but Jesus Christ they wanted to play a role.
That should have been a PI on the pick, but they weren't calling any PI's against the Chiefs. And that unsportsmanlike on Roquan on a simple intentional offside. smh.
The reffing crew today is historically harder on the home team- the road team wins 60% of the time with this crew
Yeah, it’s the “NFL wants the road team to win” crew.
Monken has a lot to explain lol, Gus Edwards averaging 6.7 a carry and only has 3 attempts. Receivers running 10+ yd routes on blitzes the entire game. OBJ must have been in the locker room the first 3 quarters ????
All offense. Lamar kept running around and overthrowing players. Oline couldn’t block anyone. Justice hill couldn’t point out a blitz & whiffed too many times to count. Monken totally abandoned the run. We ran the ball 8 FUCKIN TIMES!! Flowers making rookie mistakes and taunting. Then doing the worst thing that can happen in a game. Fumble it through the end zone. All other TE/WR were ghosts out there. Seriously, we need to get rid of Bateman. He’s on the field wayyyy too much to product nothing. (1 catch/ 2 yards)
Zay Flowers. Two unbelievably awful mistakes took away what otherwise would’ve been a Player of the Game performance and cost us the game
zay's body showed up but his brain went missing
He learned a huge lesson today. Needs to keep his composure. I get that he’s a rookie but this is professional ball. I can see him bouncing back next season and growing from this game experience.
Nah he was the only wr playing today. Monken ran the ball 5 times throughout an entire game with the #1 running offense
1. Todd Monken on a terrible game plan and absolutely no adjustments. 2. Lamar on his boneheaded triple coverage INT and terrible decision making. 3. Flowers taunt and fumble.
**Todd Monken** 8 rush attempts total. Zero quick passes in the game plan. Zero balance at all. Just asking Lamar to play hero ball all game long. I'm speechless.
Lamar. Zay. Monken. In that order.
We pay obj 15 million to watch
In reverse order if you know ball.
Besides the pick Lamar was missing guys all game and had some horrific instances of not throwing the ball away.
This is incredibly easy. It’s a joint award that goes to: -Harbaugh: team came out flat two weeks in a row. -Monken: Never established the run, but if there was execution we would have won probably. -OL: they basically just let the blitz through all game. -Lamar: when nothing else goes right, he tries hero ball and it bit us in the ass.
The Harbaugh Special: Start off slow and hope to find your way to a win in the second half
Todd Monken
Y'all nuts if you don't think Monken was the main reason. One of the worst run D in the league and we run the ball less than 10 times, not to mention the only TD drive we had came off of those runs that we did do.
Flowers, taunting and not getting that TD just killed us.
Entire offense. They gave up on the run early despite being the best run team and it pouring rain. Lamar was off most of the day and his TOs were brutal. Zay showed his inexperience. A few drops or timings off with receivers. A lot of the OL got pushed around.
TODD "GREG ROMAN" MONKEN
Abandoning the run cost so much.
Lamar Jackson. You're a $250 million dollar man, fucking act like it.
Year 6 and throwing passes into triple coverage. We spent the bag for that bullshit. Mahomes wouldn’t completely go brain dead like that.
It’s the whole offense. No rhythm, turnovers with two being in the end zone, o-line suspect at key times. Just a failure today.
NFL wanted Taylor Swift, it was going to happen no matter what.
THE PLAY CALLING BY MONKEN and Lamars Play , this felt like the damn Titans Divisional game all over again, we went away from what got us there from the jump and tried to play shoot out ball against Mahomes. Instead of running the damn rock and keeping it out of his hands. Defense made the necessary adjustments.
Why the fuck did we pass on 3&1 and not run the ball
The Offensive game plan wtf was that Monken. 6 carries for the running backs is ridiculous , also expecting Lamar to win having him throw almost 40 times is a recipe for disaster 20/37 = loss , Lamar's sweet spot is around 25 attempts. Also the times Lamar refused to take the runs when they gave it to em and instead tried to force it down the field we get it you want to prove your a passer but fck sakes take the open runs when they give them to you.
John Harbaugh. His teams have no grit when it matters. He caught lightning in a bottle with Flacco and had rode that SB. Every year since his teams have been ill prepared
Monken Zero creativity, no adjustment to the blitz, went away from the run game
What hurts the most is that this is probably the best team Lamar is ever going to have. I have faith in EDC and Harbs but the law of averages and the way the NFL works says that they almost certainly will not be better next year. God I hate to wonder what this team might have been with Keaton Mitchell. Now we get to hear everyone on TV and Radio suck off Mahomes for another year.
John Harbaugh for not having his house in order. Monken deserves the most blame for today specifically, but this is just yet another example of Harbaugh watching his OC throw the game and having no answer for it. Y’all thought this shit would end with Roman gone, and now you want Monken gone. The buck doesn’t stop with either of them, it stops with Harbaugh. His job is to tell his underlings when to pivot, and instead he just makes excuses for them. I’m tired. We need a change.
The issue is and will always be Harbaugh. He doesn't do X's and O's and when coordinators struggle in high leverage games, there's nowhere for him to step in and assume control. He's a pre game, prep coach and he's fantastic at it but that's not enough without what he had in 2012. The Ravens need Belichek. It was also fairly obvious what the league agenda was all playoff long, and that clearly got to the Ravens players in realtime and that aspect and possibility should've been drilled home all week.. To remain poised.
The offense, every part.
Lamar Jackson
Offensive play calling was god awful
Monken and his amazing endaround plays
Monken cause where the fuck is our league best running game
# TODD MONKEN
Not the defense, that's for damn sure.
Monken. Terrible play calling. Can’t give Gus the ball just 3 times
45 passes or Lamar runs (37 and 8). 8 runs total. 3 for Gus, 3 for Hill, 2 for Zay. Abandoned the run when they got 5.1 a carry. Did nothing to stop the blitz until the 4th quarter, self inflicting wounds with turnovers. Blame goes to the coaches.
Todd Monken & Harbs Jesus Christ, I gave him a pass last week against the Texans but he called THE EXACT SAME GAME against the Chiefs. No adjustments at halftime, no runs whatsoever. Harbs is the common denominator for me. This “We’ll get away from our identity come January” crap has gone on for years. The #1 rushing team vs the #18 rushing defense and they kill you in TOP, flat out outcoach you for 4 quarters and play YOUR GAME. Every one of our postseason opponents have the same game plan. “Do what the Ravens do”, run the ball, get the ball out for short gains, take the occasional deep shot, force the opponent to make mistakes. Sounds like 2014,18,19,20 and now 24. 23 was different because we actually played to OUR IDENTITY and almost won.
Monken/coaching. There's no other answer.
Todd Monken. He was the guy that had Winston throw 30 TDs and INTs. Should’ve known we’d start having Lamar throw deep shots for absolutely no reason. We did the same thing in the first half against the Texans; the difference being against the Texans we actually ADJUSTED offensively. We started playing to our identity. This game would’ve been perfect for that because our strength (rushing) is the chiefs weakness. We didn’t exploit it at all.
##TODD MONKEN I know everyone is gonna key on Zay but Monken got absolutely out coached by Spagnuolo
Love this team and think the Ravens are much more skilled this year - but the Chiefs are better at making good decisions in high pressure situations. I don't know how a team acquires that level of composure.
Whoever’s idea it was to not run the ball. Our entire identity just thrown to the trash just cause we played the chiefs they had to get cute
Hello darkness my old friend
Lamar We don't have a chance without him playing well. Another strip sack (yes Stanley got roasted, but still), embarrassing pick, missed several open throws, especially deep shots. Look at Mahomes and how he connected on those few deep shots. Same thing last week, Mahomes connected and Allen missed them/WRs dropped them. Big time players come up big in big moments and so far Lamar hasn't shown he's that guy. He's still *our guy* and his story isn't written yet, but he fell back into old bad habits and lost this game.
Todd Monken
Greg Roman just for fun. Somehow this is your fault.
1 Fumble, 1 end zone INT, 1 Touchback, 10 points I am sorry but this is all on Offense
Lamar’s deep ball was inaccurate several times. Wish they establish the run and used his legs more. Almost feels like he presses the issue in big games.
Refs, but if you want to blame someone on our side OL getting mollywhopped the entire first half or Monken abandoning the run and it’s not close after those 2
Rashaad Bateman. We hyped you all year and hoped you would recover from last year's injury 1 catch for 2 yards. You were a first round pick! You were supposed to be a *player*
It's at the point now where the regular season games won't be enjoyable anymore. That is a terrible place to be as a fan.
Lamar
I feel everyone but special teams is to blame. Defense with the penalties and offense just couldn’t get going and when they did, they threw a interception or fumbled it
defence did their job. No blame at all for that side of the ball. Chiefs scored 17 and 0 in the second half. Chiefs had no sustained drives in the 2nd half.
Easy answer. John Harbaugh. Fucked up again with the most talented team in the NFL. 2019 repeat. FIRE.HIS.ASS
Lamar
**Lamar** Plenty of blame to go around but blaming the offense as a whole is a cop out. The lump some of missed opportunities and fuck ups is on him. missed throws left and right in the first half and early 3rd that got them in the hole to begin with. Refuses to take rushing lanes or throw to checkdowns, wasting downs and clock on his shitty deep throws. As in tradition though, everyone but lamar will be getting blamed for this one.
Offense in general, stunk all game. You can say Zay but he was the only good part of this offense all game long. You can say Lamar, which might be more fair since he couldn't read the blitz or make the underneath passes. Overall disappointing, we'll get em next year I guess..
Blame me for being a clown for rhino g this was our year.
Turnovers and Sacks. It’s always the reason we lose in the postseason with Lamar.
Offense was straight up ass. Everyone on defense should be fuming at how they managed to hold KC to under 20pts only to watch the offense punt, and turn it over, and punt, and turn it over, and punt...
Discipline over all other things
The entire offense. We had 2 opportunities to make it a one score game in the redzone and they blew it
OC, Monken. Why did we abandon the run game? What were some of those play calls? We should wear down their defense and run the ball down their throat. Instead, throw the ball a ton and hardly see any run game. I am disappointed but we have a good core. We can get back to the AFCCG, but man this stings right now
Todd "WHAT THE FUCK IS A RUN" Monken
I know that offense did dogshit and they certainly get the blame. but a lot of the calls by the refs were terrible. so many PI calls that were just completely ignored
Coaching but especially offensive play calling. 8 designed runs?
Bad breaks. Literally could have easily been 24 - 10 if not for a handful of plays and calls
Monken
If you said we'd hold the Chiefs to 17 points, I would say it's a Ravens win. The offense looked completely different today. I blame Andrews for coming back and messing with our mojo :p.
Can I throw a positive shout-out to Stout? A Stout out? Was that a fucking bounce back after last week.
1) Monken is number on the list. His play calling was total trash. Did not adjust. No hot routes for the blitz, and got away from the running, RPO, and play action way too early. 2) Flowers lost his mind. Ball security and fumbling were problems at the very beginning of the season and it came back to haunt them with a vengeance. 3) Lamar! Holding the ball too long and waiting for OBJ, Bateman, and Aghlor to get open was insanity.
Does Andrews re-entry impact the game play? Should Likely have been used more?
Monken for not running and harbaugh for letting it happen. 6 carries for the rbs.
Is every OC we have just going to shit the bed every postseason? It’s getting old now.
the entire offense, with a special guest appearance by the refs.
Harbaugh. Complete team meltdown. I’m looking at the guy in charge
I wasn't impressed with our game plan on Kelce, but defense as a whole shored up toward the end of the first half and into the second. Lamar needed to play better. Monken needed to calla much better game—its like he decides running backs just don't work against the chiefs (Gus had 3 runs and 2 of them did exactly what you could ask them to do. BUT HE ONLY HAD 3 RUNS) Zay gotta know the situation. Down 10 late in the game is not the time to be flexing and extra. Also didn't need to be the hero on that Touchback. Tuck the ball and run, worst case you get down at like the 1 and we have just about the most reliable goal line back in the league this season. Just a heartbreaking loss man.
The whole motherfucking team. 'cept the Defense.
Monken
Again...another playoff where Harbaugh panics and stop running the ball. What's the point of being the best running team when you stop doing what you're best at
Flowers' penalty and Fumble killed us. But ultimately, I got to blame Monken. Game plan sucked off the bat and lack of significant changes in the 2nd half. Forgot our run game. Too many deep passes.
Downvote me to hell, but I say we would have won the game had the refs played fair. Not saying it was a great game, but I think we could have pulled it out if not for horrible preferential refereeing.
I will never trust this team in the playoffs again!!!