The keys in the AFC championship game

The American Conference Title Game is just around the corner and a fast-paced game full of emotions awaits us that will have us on the edge of our seats, where two extraordinary teams will face each other: the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs . .

Millions of fans are savoring this game, excitement is at its peak watching the best team in the AFC, the Ravens, who finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed and in the Divisional Round categorically beat the Houston Texans. In front of them they will have the Chiefs who entered postseason mode and are a scary team after overwhelming the Miami Dolphins and taming the Buffalo Bills who fought, but were not enough.

That is why today we are going to see what the key points are for both teams to win the game and get a ticket to the Super Bowl.

Ravens and Chiefs, different worlds in the postseason
But first let’s talk a little about the numbers and the history that both have in this type of matchup.

The Baltimore team has reached the Conference Championship Game four times, with a record of two wins and two losses. Their first game in this instance was in the 2000 season and they beat the Oakland Raiders 16-3, which gave them a place in Super Bowl XXXV, which they won against the New York Giants.

Then came two losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2008 campaign and the New England Patriots in 2011 by scores of 23-14 and 23-20, respectively.

Their last appearance in the AFC Championship Game was in the 2012 season, where they took revenge on the Patriots and advanced to Super Bowl XLVII, in which they defeated the San Francisco 49ers with a tight 34-31.

For their part, the Chiefs will play their seventh American Conference Title Game and sixth in a row. It has a balance equal to that of its current rival, with three victories and the same number of defeats.

Since Patrick Mahomes took over as the team’s starter, they have not stopped appearing in this instance. In the 2019, 2020 and 2022 campaigns they managed to beat the Tennessee Titans (35-24), Bills (38-24) and Cincinnati Bengals (23-20) to reach the Super Bowl, winning two of them and losing one.

These are monstrous numbers for the team and for Mahomes, which is why I told them that they are currently in playoff mode, since they have left behind the problems they had in the regular season and are completely focused on the now.

The only history of these two teams in the postseason is from the 2010 campaign when they met in the Wild Card Round and the victory went to Baltimore.

Why will the Ravens win the AFC title?
The main advantage that Baltimore will have is that it will play at home. We already saw how the Texans’ offense suffered in communication due to the scandal of the local fans, in addition to the fact that it will be the first Conference Final in the Mahomes era where the Chiefs will not be at home.

Another point to highlight is their defense, which knows how to pressure the opposing quarterback to catch him or force him to make mistakes and C.J. can confirm it. Stroud. So Mahomes will have to be careful with Justin Madubuike, Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy, who will force him to make mistakes if he doesn’t want to take a hit.

But not only that, they will also have to go on the ground and in the air to a defense led by Patrick Queen and that has a man like Kyle Hamilton, who can support in different positions.

But without a doubt Baltimore’s strongest point has a first and last name: Lamar Jackson. The quarterback is having his best season, he has matured and went from being a running quarterback to a confident quarterback who has known how to make the best decisions taking advantage of his receiving corps and his running backs. .

He knows how to hold on inside the pocket, but when it collapses he has shown his ability to elude his rivals and throw the pass or make the play himself, as happened against Houston, a game in which he threw two touchdown passes and ran in . . twice to the diagonals.

Why will the Chiefs beat the Ravens?
One of Kansas City’s main weapons will be Isiah Pacheco, who is capable of finding the formula to pass a defense like Baltimore’s, but his carries will allow him to take pressure off Mahomes. Against the Bills we saw him run for 97 yards and a touchdown, and against the Ravens his role will be to become his quarterback’s escape valve to take pressure off the fearsome rival defense.

Another highlight that will be key to the Chiefs’ victory is Travis Kelce, the tight end is very motivated and has an impressive connection with his quarterback, as we saw in the last game, in which he scored two touchdowns in the victory in Buffalo. Furthermore, he is one of the few players who has the ability to surpass Hamilton’s mark, who will surely be in charge of covering him.

However, Kelce will not only help the team with his receiving, but he will also be important in taking an important mark off of Rashee Rice, who can be a primary target through the air.

And like Baltimore, the key to the Chiefs’ victory has a first and last name: Patrick Mahomes. Without a doubt he is already an elite quarterback, what he has achieved in a short time demonstrates his potential. It is known that he is a master at playing with the clock, that he can make a great play to win the game and without forgetting his precision.

If his line can stop the attacks of the Ravens defense and give him enough time to play his game, they will have a very difficult time stopping him. The quarterback has a winning mentality that is at another level, always hungry to win titles and will want to continue engraving his name in gold letters.