I know I have a bias. I've been a Chiefs fan since Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 54-yard game-winning Field Goal against the John Elway-led Broncos on Nov. 16, 1997. That same day, NFL legend Derrick Thomas recorded his 100th sack as well. After that, a long period thinking this was the team to take us to the Super Bowl. If you think your team is ever going to lose, then why do you watch in the first place? I understand my bias.
Even though I have a bias, I'm going to say this. Anybody in their right mind would pick Baltimore to win this game. They have been the most dominant teams all season and have been the hottest team in football since Christmas. They are the clear number one team in all of football. They have a better defense than the Chiefs. The Ravens allowed 16.1 PPG(1st) to the Chiefs allowed 17.1 PPG(2nd). The Ravens forced more turnovers than the Chiefs did. They had more sacks during the year.
The Ravens beat more teams with a winning record this season (11) than any other team in the history of the NFL. 7 out of 11 of those games the Ravens won by 14 or more. Even the weather at the time of kickoff on Sunday(It's supposed to rain the whole game) favors the Ravens, the Chiefs' run defense is their weakness and most teams run a lot in the rain. You'd have to be crazy to pick this Ravens team to lose at home.
This feels like the 2018 Patriots being called underdogs because it was the first time in forever that the Patriots were vulnerable. They embraced the "underdog" status and won the Super Bowl. Mahomes has only played ONE bad half of playoff football. That was the 2nd half of the 2021 AFC championship against the Bengals. The whole team was terrible in the 2nd half of that game. That screen to Tyreek at the end of the half that ended up being the reason the Chiefs got zero points before halftime destroyed any momentum they had built for two quarters.
Sure, he got shut out in the first half of the 2018 AFC championship, but he wasn't playing badly. He was just playing an amazing defense that would hold the Rams' high-flying offense to 3 points in the Super Bowl. If Mahomes would've had a defense that knew where the line of scrimmage was, he would've gone to Super Bowl 53.
Super Bowl 55 Mahomes was doing everything he could, and even the Buccaneers were in awe of what he was doing on the field. He threw it 25 yards while flying just to have it fall incomplete. Maybe the greatest incompletion of all time. Injuries wrecked the OL and the defense couldn't touch Tom Brady at all.
This is the game where Patrick Mahomes shows his greatness. The game that he has no business winning. This is the one where he won't be denied. This is the game where everyone is counting him out. They're still analysts who say they would take Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson over Mahomes if they were a coach. After 6 AFC championships in a row, they're still quite a bit of naysayers out there. Is this Chief's team great? No, it's not. It's good enough to let Mahomes work his magic though. Mahomes will silence all the remaining naysayers on Sunday. Patrick Mahomes is the only reason the Chiefs can beat the Ravens on Sunday. THAT'S THE ONLY REASON THEY NEED TO DO EXACTLY THAT!
CHIEFS 24 Ravens 20.