Chiefs and Ravens prepare for early season clash with familiar faces in new places

The “warmth of the second,” as described by Kansas Metropolis sort out Orlando Brown Jr., can flip into an explosive fireplace when Patrick Mahomes is your crew’s quarterback.

That’s one thing Brown found first-hand from his spot alongside the Chiefs’ reconstructed offensive entrance as Kansas Metropolis (1-0) pulled off a fourth-quarter rally to win its opener. Now the crew faces a Sunday night time take a look at at Baltimore towards Brown’s former crew, the Ravens (0-1).

“That’s what this crew is, it’s a ton of resilience, a number of expertise, and Patrick is the very best ever at what he does. This can be a crew you must by no means rely out,” stated Brown, who insisted he should play higher whereas persevering with to gel inside a line that features three rookie starters.

To enhance instantly, he should dismiss any nostalgia he would possibly really feel whereas competing towards his former crew in a stadium the place he additionally watched his father play.

“I’ll be very emotional, however I plan on letting my feelings play for themselves,” Brown stated.

That and contining to belief in Mahomes, who fired three landing passes within the second half and completed with 337 yards whereas executing a 33-29 comeback towards the Cleveland Browns. Mahomes took two sacks. His most dazzling throw, a 75-yard scoring bomb to Tyreek Hill, got here whereas eluding strain.

When requested how he clicked along with his new line, Mahomes accepted blame on a number of the pressures whereas acknowledging he may see a wide range of blitzes from the Ravens, who characteristic rangy linebacker Patrick Queen.

“I’ve set to work on simply the depth of my drop,” Mahomes stated. “It’s one thing I all the time must work on, simply not fading again an excessive amount of.”

Brown gained’t be the one participant who can share intel with a brand new crew.

Sammy Watkins moved to Baltimore after contributing to the Chiefs’ Tremendous Bowl runs the previous two seasons. Watkins had 4 receptions for 96 yards within the Ravens’ opener, a 33-27 extra time loss Monday at Las Vegas.

“The most effective factor is we get to play towards top-of-the-line groups within the NFL,” Watkins stated. “We’ve simply received to come back out and clear issues up in follow. … We get to redeem ourselves.”

Any duel between Mahomes and Lamar Jackson creates appreciable consideration, however the Ravens’ quarterback is aware of he should train extra warning after dropping two fumbles within the opener. The second turnover led to the Raiders’ game-winning drive.

“That ticked me off. I hate any turnover,” stated Jackson, who added that “we’ve received to maneuver on fast. All people hates dropping. It’s going to be a fast turnaround, although.”

Perhaps that quick timeframe will allow Jackson to not dwell on reminiscences of three defeats in three conferences towards Mahomes and the Chiefs. Jackson should proceed to improvise with a patchwork offense that’s dealing with the lack of three operating backs to accidents earlier than the opener.

Towards the Raiders, Ty’son Williams stepped up and ran for 65 yards and a landing on 9 carries, whereas including three receptions for 29 yards. Jackson, the primary NFL quarterback to submit 1,000 yards dashing in two seasons, gained 86 yards whereas averaging 7.2 yards per carry.