Chiefs vs. Ravens: Previewing Baltimore's Week 15 Matchup
The Baltimore Ravens will look to end a two-game losing streak when they host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15.
The Ravens enter this week with a 4-9 record following last week's 35-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The playoffs were already out of reach, but now even a .500 record cannot be reached in what's been a year to forget for the Ravens.
As for the Chiefs, they enter this week with an 8-5 mark and are right in the thick of the AFC playoff race. According to ESPN.com, Kansas City would hold the No. 5 seed in the AFC if the playoffs began today.
Needless to say, the Ravens will have the chance to play spoiler when the two teams square off this Sunday. Here is our preview for Ravens vs. Chiefs.
Game Time: 1 p.m. ET
Location: M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore
Date: Sunday, December 20
TV: CBS
Week 14 Results and Recap
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The Ravens hosted the Seahawks in Week 14, and the game quickly turned into the lowest point Baltimore has reached in a season of lows.
While Baltimore had virtually nothing to play for, Seattle entered the game having won five of six games to climb into the NFC playoff race. It needed to win this game to keep its postseason push alive, whereas Baltimore simply could not match the urgency and will to win Seattle played with.
That—and the Ravens having a different starting quarterback in the recently signed Jimmy Clausen—helped translate into Baltimore's first blowout loss of the season.
The Ravens did manage to keep the game close going into halftime with the Seahawks holding a mere 14-6 lead, but the wheels came off in the second half. Seattle scored 21 unanswered points and cruised to a 35-6 win. The loss puts Baltimore at 4-9 and clinches its first losing season of the John Harbaugh era.
The Seahawks scored 21 unanswered points while the Ravens could do nothing on offense, and that led to a 35-6 Seattle victory.
Here's a look at the AFC North standings following the Week 14 results.
AFC North Standings
1. Cincinnati Bengals (10-3)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5)
3. Baltimore Ravens (4-9)
4. Cleveland Browns (3-10)
News and Notes
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Ravens Sign Ryan Mallett
The Ravens have added yet another new quarterback to their roster. On Tuesday, the team signed free agent Ryan Mallett to a two-year contract.
Not only is Mallett now under contract for the rest of this season, but he will be in 2016 when his deal allows him to make up to $2.5 million.
As Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun reported, that's a good indicator that the team is preparing for Mallett to be Joe Flacco's backup next season: "While it’s not out of the question that Mallett gets a chance to play at some point over the final three games this year, his deal immediately makes him the favorite to serve as Joe Flacco’s backup next season."
In 13 career games (six starts), Mallett has completed 53.1 percent of his passes for five touchdowns versus seven interceptions. He started four games for the Houston Texans this season before eventually losing his job to Brian Hoyer.
Mallett was later cut by Houston for oversleeping and missing a team meeting. He also overslept and missed a training-camp practice back in August, and a second infraction was the last straw for him in Houston.
With Matt Schaub and Clausen already on the roster, there's no telling if Mallett will even get a chance to play this season, but it's clear he'll get a chance to earn a job in Baltimore through 2016.
Eugene Monroe Now on IR with Future Unclear
The Ravens are now without their blindside protector for the rest of the 2015 season. The team placed starting left tackle Eugene Monroe on IR before their loss to the Seahawks on Sunday.
Monroe, now in his eighth NFL season, played in just six games this season after missing just four games in his first four seasons in the league. Including the 10 games he'll have missed this season, Monroe has now missed 15 games due to injury over his last two seasons in Baltimore.
As Zrebiec wrote, this could be Monroe's last season with the Ravens if something doesn't change this coming offseason:
"Cutting him this offseason would open up $2.1 million in salary cap room but it also would create $6.6 million in dead money. That’s a lot of dead money. But at this point, the Ravens could just view the parting as necessary.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, Monroe and the Ravens just haven’t seemed to be on the same page the past 15 months or so. The Ravens asked him to do a simple contract restructure last offseason and Monroe declined, which is his prerogative.
I’m not sure that Monroe and offensive line coach Juan Castillo have ever seen eye-to-eye on the best way to go about things. And Monroe’s inability to get and stay on the field has frustrated both him and the team.
I’m not sure the situation is unsalvageable but some work would obviously need to be done for him to return.
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At this point, Monroe's return in 2016 and beyond could be impacted by whom Baltimore selects with its first pick in the 2016 NFL draft. There are some promising offensive tackle prospects in this year's draft who could step right in and start at left tackle next season.
Even if the Ravens don't take a tackle high in the draft, they may still look to replace Monroe this offseason as he's become too unreliable to count on for next year.
Chris Canty Placed on IR
The Ravens also lost a defensive starter this past week after defensive end Chris Canty went down for the year. Canty suffered a torn pectoral during Sunday's loss to the Seahawks, and now his season and possibly NFL career are over.
Canty, who's been a solid starter and defensive leader during his three-year Ravens career, is now 33 years old and Baltimore has him under contract for one more year at $2.9 million, per Spotrac.
However, Baltimore will only incur $765,00 in dead cap if he's cut, meaning it'd save over $2 million by cutting him.
In other words, don't expect Canty to be on the roster next year at his currently scheduled cap hit. With Canty out, backup Lawrence Guy will likely be the starting end going forward with second-year defensive end Brent Urban also getting more playing time.
Injury Report
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Matt Schaub
The Ravens were without Matt Schaub last week after the starting quarterback suffered a chest injury during the Week 13 loss to the Dolphins. That injury led to Clausen starting last week after Schaub missed all three practices leading up to the 35-6 loss to the Seahawks.
The offense clearly took a step back with Clausen under center, even if it wasn't doing great with Schaub at the helm.
The good news is Schaub was able to practice on Wednesday, though it was only in a limited capacity, per the team's official injury report.
The Ravens may want to see what Clausen can do this Sunday in what would be just his second start of the season for Baltimore after Schaub went 1-1 in his two starts. If Schaub continues to only practice in a limited capacity, that may end up being the case.
Crockett Gillmore
The Ravens were without their top tight end last Sunday as Crockett Gillmore sat out due to a back injury. He suffered the injury in Week 13 before missing all three practices last week.
It's apparently not getting better after Gillmore sat out on Wednesday. Gillmore is fourth on the team in catches (33) and third in receiving yards (412) in addition to being tied for the team lead in touchdown grabs (4).
Gillmore has been a nice surprise for the Ravens this season, and his return will be crucial if Baltimore is to win another game this season.
If Gillmore is out again this week, Maxx Williams will be the top tight end once more.
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Matchup and X-Factor to Watch
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Chiefs LBs vs. Ravens OTs
The biggest strength of the Chiefs is their outside pass rush. They have a host of outside linebackers who can plant opposing quarterbacks into the ground early and often.
Kansas City enters Week 15 ranked fourth in the NFL with 39 sacks this season. That's after ranking fifth in 2014 with 46 sacks.
This season, Chiefs linebackers have accounted for 23 sacks. They've consistently gotten good pressure on the edge, but the Ravens are getting better at stopping outside pass-rushers.
That's thanks in large part to Kelechi Osemele moving out to left tackle to force the enigmatic James Hurst to the bench. Osemele, along with right tackle Rick Wagner, have allowed a combined two sacks this season and none last week against a stout Seahawks defense, per Pro Football Focus.
With as much damage as Kansas City does on the outside, this will be a key matchup to watch.
X-Factor: Justin Houston
As mentioned above, the Chiefs thrive off their pass rush, and a big contributor to that has been All-Pro outside linebacker Justin Houston. Over his last 27 games, Houston has racked up 29.5 total sacks, 22 of which came in 2014.
However, Houston has missed the past two weeks with a knee injury.
According to a report from NFL Network's Rand Getlin, Houston may end up having season-ending knee surgery after meeting with orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
The Kansas City Star's Terez A. Paylor reported that meeting has happened, but the Chiefs have provided no update on Houston's status. It's unclear if he'll play this week, but Houston is a game-changing player any time he steps on the field.
If he's out this Sunday, that would be a major boost to Baltimore's bid for an upset.
Prediction
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The Ravens looked like a team that was finally running out of gas during last week's loss to the Seahawks.
It's hard to see Baltimore finding enough fuel left in the tank to take down a Chiefs team that, like Seattle, is fighting for its postseason life and needs every win it can get over the final three weeks.
However, this Chiefs team is not as good as that Seahawks team, and Baltimore actually matches up a lot better with what this Kansas City team does. As long as the Ravens get some of their key players back from injury this week, they should have enough on defense to keep the one-dimensional Chiefs offense from having a lot of success.
However, Baltimore's offense won't be able to muster up enough points to win a hard-fought game that comes down to the final minutes.
Final Score: Chiefs 20, Ravens 16
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