The Baltimore Ravens earned a richly deserved bye in the AFC playoffs after finishing with the best record in the conference at 14-2. But while they are resting up and hoping the flu bug that has swept through the squad will not take a long time to clear up, the postseason will begin in earnest this week.
While there’s plenty of reasons to believe the Ravens will sweep through the playoffs en route to their third Super Bowl visit, they’ll have to beat a couple of AFC teams to get there first. There are five potential opponents alongside Baltimore in the AFC playoff race, all with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Here we will take a look at the five other teams that potentially stand between the Ravens and a trip to the Super Bowl, looking at how they have fared in 2019 from a statistical point of view.
Kansas City Chiefs:
The Kansas City Chiefs secured the No. 2 seed in the AFC in the dying moments of the regular season. They won the AFC West with a 12-4 record and edged past the New England Patriots after the Patriots lost at home to the Miami Dolphins in Week 17.
Offense:
The strength of the team is their offense and primarily their passing game. The Chiefs scored the sixth-most points in 2019, with 51.8% of their offensive drives ending in a score — the second-highest rate in the league. The Chiefs did a masterful job of protecting their stud quarterback Patrick Mahomes, allowing a sack rate of only 4.2%. This was the fourth-best in the NFL. While Kansas City put up the fifth-most passing yards, they were ranked 23rd in rushing the football.
Defense:
Defensively they were middle of the pack this past season, allowing the 17th most yards but also the seventh-fewest points. The Chiefs were vulnerable on the ground, allowing the seventh-most rushing yards. But teams did not enjoy much success through the air against defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit, amassing the eighth-fewest yards. The Chiefs had 45 sacks, good for 11th in the NFL last season, and created these without a strong reliance on the blitz, sending extra rushers on just 29.1% of their plays.
They were fairly proficient with regard to taking the ball away from the opposition. The Chiefs ended 13.4% of their opponents’ possessions with a turnover. This was the ninth-best rate in 2019.
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