Isaiah Likely ‘Looked Like Travis Kelce’

It’s no surprise the back-to-back defending champs were going to be a tough test for the Ravens. They’re a challenge for any team in the NFL. But Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr writes it wasn’t just the Chiefs causing issue, but the matter of being the Ravens’ first scheduled opponent.

“But what if the Chiefs were simply the worst possible matchup for Baltimore at this point in the season, and the finer points of the Ravens’ overall philosophy are going to work over the long term? The Ravens went into Thursday night announcing to the NFL that they are going to negate some of the inexperience on their offensive line with a dizzying array of misdirectional blocking up front that involves almost any offensive player capable of laying a hand on someone else,” Orr wrote.

“On paper, this is a solid idea, except during the very rare moments when you happen to be playing against a team with a generational talent as an interior defensive lineman (Chris Jones), who can break up the misdirectional blocking and clog up the power running game, as well as a defense that is so good at tackling in space collectively that it was able to blunt even the greatest collection of skill-position players in the NFL when it faced the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.”

The Ravens ran into one of the few teams in the NFL capable of going blow for blow with them in all three phases of the game. Orr doesn’t see that being the case on a week-to-week basis.

“My question: How many more defenses on Baltimore’s schedule can we honestly say are capable of doing everything Kansas City’s defense did Thursday night with so much consistency that it can fend off Baltimore for four quarters? And, had Likely worn a shoe half a size smaller, we wouldn’t have a single lingering question about Baltimore’s offense at all,” Orr wrote. “Baltimore’s efforts were nearly good…