The Baltimore Ravens are getting ready to play in their first AFC Championship since the 2012 season this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson is expected to win his second MVP, but perhaps the Ravens’ defense has been the biggest driver of the team’s dominance this season.
Baltimore’s defense has faced a gauntlet of top offenses and quarterbacks this season, rising to the occasion game after game. Against the Houston Texans and red-hot rookie quarterback and potential Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud, the Ravens’ defense allowed just three points and kept the Texans from ever reaching Baltimore’s 25-yard line.
However, the Ravens will face a different animal this Sunday when two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes comes to town to play in his sixth-straight AFC Championship.
Still, Baltimore inside linebacker Roquan Smith is confident in his unit against Mahomes.
“[Patrick Mahomes] puts his pants on just like any other quarterback,” Smith said. “Yes, he’s an elite quarterback, but at the end of the day, we’re an elite defense, and that’s our job – to stop the opposing offense. That’s our job, play in and play out, and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Smith’s demeanor since joining the Ravens via a trade with the Chicago Bears last season has noticeably transformed Baltimore’s defense and team attitude as a whole, leading to comparisons to the legendary Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis with his physicality on the field but also his natural ability to get the most out of the players next to him and an infectious desire to fire his team up for any occasion.
