The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory over the Baltimore Ravens will seem like a whirlwind ago but the AFC North powerhouse will be using the defeat as motivation in 2024.
In January, the Baltimore Ravens were left heartbroken with one game left before their first Super Bowl appearance since 2012.
The Maryland-based franchise was the number one seed with the home-field advantage and had the wind in their sails beating the dark horse Houston Texans.
Moreover, signal-caller Lamar Jackson has wiped the floor with the competition in the 2023 MVP votes.
Lamar Jackson lands at the top of the pile for the MVP votes in 2023
The 27-year-old earned all the first-placed votes bar one which was rewarded to the Buffalo Bills Josh Allen.
Baltimore has the motivation and support, the stars were finally aligning for their first true shot at the Super Bowl world title in over a decade.
However, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were not going to go away quietly.
Andy Reid’s red machine secured their second successive Lamar Hunt Trophy, with a resounding 17-10 win.
The 2023 MVP crumbled throwing an interception and losing a fumble in the fourth quarter to push him into the spotlight.
Baltimore Ravens says ‘hats off’ to the Chiefs in an appreciative interview
Roquan Smith spoke on the Rich Eisen Show about all things NFL but was asked about the devastating loss in January.
The Ravens linebacker was full of praise for the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent Super Bowl LVIII success knowing it could have his team in their position.
“I didn’t watch it (the Super Bowl) closely, vaguely, like a little bit. Happy for the guys that won, hats off to them,” Smith explained on the show.
“At the end of the year, there is only one champion, and hats off to those guys, Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs. They had a great season, and fought through some adversity, so you know, happy for those guys, but at the end of the day, we would like to be in those shoes but they’re not given, and you have to go out there and get every single thing you want, those guys earned it, hats off to those guys.”
Smith appreciates that the Kansas City Chiefs battled hard through the postseason situation that they encountered.
The Kansas City Chiefs made their playoff journey the most difficult it has ever been with Mahomes
The world champions had to play in the frozen temperatures in the Wildcard round. Then go on the road to the Buffalo Bills, who they had recently lost to disastrously in Week 14.
Furthermore, they had to travel to Baltimore to take on the purple and black juggernaut at M&T Bank Stadium.
For the Chiefs, this was the first time the combination of Mahomes and Reid had entered the Wildcard round.
The franchise had to battle through their offensive struggles in the regular season and was aided exponentially by the defense in close games.
Yet, the two-time MVP knows how to shift into another gear when the all-or-nothing postseason starts.
Ultimately, the Chiefs made life difficult for themselves but no one can doubt the worthiness of a successive ring.