Chiefs trounce Ravens for second win of the season

The AFC West tightens up after the Chiefs claw back to .500, defeat the Baltimore Ravens soundly in Arrowhead.

Kansas City’s offense finally woke up in Week 4 action.

The Chiefs scored on seven of their 10 possessions, including the first seven of eight, en route to a convincing 37-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Sunday provided an exploitable matchup for the Chiefs, and the home team took full advantage of the overmatched Ravens to get to 2-2 on the season.

How good was the Chiefs’ offense against the Ravens?

Matt Araiza didn’t have his first punt of the game until the 3:35 mark of the fourth quarter.

Baltimore entered the game allowing the second-most points per game (32) in the NFL, and the Chiefs will cause that average to go up. Baltimore also entered the game allowing 266 yards passing per game and 5.76 yards per play, each statistic ranking at or near the bottom of the league.

“It felt good,” Center Creed Humphrey told KC Sports Network. “I felt like we did a good job executing. We did a good job in critical situations … We knew all we needed to do was execute. I’m proud of the way the guys stepped up, handled the week, really focused on the game plan, scheme and all of those things. It showed up.”

With Gardner Minshew finishing this one out, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 25-off-37 passes for 270 yards passing and four touchdowns for a 124.8 passer rating, while the offense averaged 5.5 yards per play.

Sunday proved the perfect remedy for the Chiefs’ early-season offensive woes, which had Kansas City’s offense entering the weekend averaging 20 points per game.

And it didn’t hurt to see wide receiver Xavier Worthy provide a spark on his return.

Worthy missed the previous two games with a shoulder injury, and he made his presence felt early and often in the offense.

Mahomes wasted no time after gaining one of his lethal targets back in the offense. Worthy caught the Chiefs’ opening pass after injuring his shoulder on the third play of the season.

Worthy was happy to get his first hit checked off so quickly in the Week 4 matchup.

“Once I got tackled the first time, I was good,” Worthy said. “I just needed to test it out. I am glad it happened on the first play, so I didn’t have to play scared.”

The second-year wide receiver finished the game with five catches for 83 yards on eight targets, including one deep down the right sideline for 37 yards. His receiving production led the team, but he also led the team in rushing yards, taking two carries for 38 yards.

“I thought [Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy] used him the right way and put him in great positions and then Worthy didn’t flinch at all,” Head Coach Andy Reid said. “People were worried about the shoulder and so on. But right from the start, he gets the first play and goes and that’s the way he’s approached his rehab and everything else.”

Mahomes distributed the ball to nine different receivers, including Worthy, and his touchdown passes were thrown to Tyquan Thornton, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and running back Isiah Pacheco.

The nine-year veteran appeared to have a consistently clean pocket for much of the matchup. This marked the first game since Week 7 of the 2023 season that Mahomes tossed for four touchdowns.

“I think guys just executed well and the offensive line blocked extremely well,” Mahomes said. “When that happens, you can get the football out and let guys make plays and we did a good job as far as scheme. We knew where to throw the ball on time and other than the few plays at the beginning of the game, I thought we did a great job at executing the whole day.”

The Ravens jumped ahead to start the game after an efficient nine-play, 70-yard drive to start the game.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson completed 5-of-5 passes for 50 yards, then capped off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Justice Hill. Running back Derrick Henry had 16 yards on two carries in the opening drive, adding a catch for 6 yards.

The Chiefs responded with a nine-play, 48-yard drive and got on the board behind kicker Butker’s 38-yard field goal.

Baltimore had a good drive going on the ensuing possession, but linebacker Leo Chenal put a stop to it with an interception, the first of his career. It turned out to be the turning point in the game.

Chenal made the play while covering Ravens tight end Mark Andrews down the right sideline. Linebacker Nick Bolton pressured Jackson in the pocket, leading to the errant throw. Chenal was falling backward when he reached out with his right hand, and then brought in the pass for the pick.

The Chiefs capitalized on the turnover by putting points on the board behind Butker’s second field goal of the game, a 23-yard effort after the offense stalled inside the 5-yard line to cut the Ravens’ lead to 7-6.

Baltimore then had a possession to forget, as Jackson was flagged twice for delay of game and intentional grounding before being forced to punt.

The Chiefs made them pay on the ensuing drive.

Worthy had a 35-yard run on the first play of the possession to put the Chiefs in Baltimore’s territory. Two plays later, Mahomes found tight end Kelce for a 12-yard gain before capping off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Schuster to give the Chiefs a 13-7 lead, which they didn’t relinquish.

The Chiefs stonewalled Baltimore on the next series, forcing out the Ravens on downs.

Mahomes took advantage of the short field by quickly moving the Chiefs into scoring position in five plays. Mahomes found Pacheco for an 8-yard touchdown pass on the sixth play to help pad the Chiefs’ lead to 20-7 late in the first half.

The Chiefs had another opportunity to produce points after Jackson fumbled with less than two minutes remaining in the half, but Butker missed a 56-yard field goal, the third misfire for Butker this season.

Nevertheless, the Chiefs went on to score 17 points in the second half to put away the Ravens, which lost Jackson to a hamstring injury in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs elected to defer to the second half after winning the coin toss, and they used the opening second-half drive to solidify their lead further.

A drive that lasted just over three minutes and six plays ended in Mahomes’ third touchdown pass of the day, this time to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton.

It was Thornton’s third of the season, which is a career-high and is more than he had in all three years with the New England Patriots, combined.

A 31-yard field goal and a touchdown pass to Brown on a fourth and one from the Baltimore 15 capped off the Chiefs’ big offensive output.

Worthy, Travis Kelce and Smith-Schuster each brought in at least four catches, with Brown and rookie running back Brashard Smith each hauling in three.

Pacheco tacked on 35 yards on seven carries, while Kareem Hunt rushed for 34.

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The defense was just as impressive as the offense, especially considering the Ravens came into the game averaging 37 points per game.

The 20 points and 360 yards Baltimore produced were even inflated after Hill took a handoff 71 yards to the endzone with under two minutes left in the fourth quarter, with the game already mailed in.

Kansas City held the Ravens to 3 of 10 on third-downs and 1 of 4 on fourth-down opportunities.

“It was just a mindset throughout this week,” safety Jaden Hicks told KC Sports Network. “[The Ravens] talked about how they could out-physical us, so we just had a chip on our shoulder, ready to attack this week. We went out there and executed and everything, and you see the results.”

The Chiefs limited Jackson to 147 yards passing, one touchdown, one interception and 48 yards rushing before he exited the game.

Henry averaged 5.8 yards per carry, but with the Chiefs’ front-running, he was limited to just eight attempts in the matchup.

“At the end of the day, that’s (the Ravens) a great offense,” Mahomes said. “That’s a great football team, that’s a great offense with two guys that are the top of the league. Top guy at quarterback (Jackson) and running back (Henry) and then with tight ends.

Then, the way our defense played today, I know they got the late touchdown, but they played lockdown defense and they put pressure on the quarterback, they got interceptions, they got turnovers and that sparked us offensively. Giving us those short fields, we have to execute and score off those and it was a good team football game. It wasn’t just offense, it wasn’t just defense or special teams, it was everybody came together and that’s what we need the rest of the year.”

It was a bittersweet day for defensive tackle Chris Jones. The all-pro recorded a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits, arriving just before kickoff after attending a family member’s funeral.

“It was a lot,” Jones said. “I was overcome with emotions. It felt fun to be back on the field with my brothers, enjoy the win and the atmosphere, feeling the energy here.”

Linebacker Drue Tranquill led the team in tackles with seven and recovered a fumble. Defensive tackle Jerry Tillery picked up his first sack in a Chiefs uniform, while defensive end George Karlaftis sacked Jackson and hit him four times, leading the team in that category.

INJURIES

Cornerback Kristian Fulton (ankle), defensive end Mike Danna (hip), running back Elijah Mitchell, tight end Jared Wiley, wide receiver Jason Brownlee, offensive lineman Hunter Nourzad and defensive tackle Brodric Martin were inactive.

UP NEXT

The Chiefs are on the road to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium on Monday Night Football in Week 5.

KC Sports Network’s Herbie Teope contributed to this report.