Chiefs, Ravens Conference Championship Fantasy Football Takeaways: Patrick Mahomes, Isiah Pacheco, Travis Kelce, Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers and More

Takeaways from the Chiefs playoff win over the Ravens.

The Kansas City Chiefs continued their dynasty with a 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday. It marked the fourth time in the past five seasons that the Chiefs won the AFC title.

Let’s dive into some of the numbers from the game from a fantasy football perspective.

Chiefs Get Job Done Again

The Ravens finished with more total yards, but costly turnovers and penalties proved to be the difference. Kansas City had 319 total yards of offense, no turnovers and just three penalties.

Patrick Mahomes continued his fantastic postseason career by completing 30 of his 39 attempts for 241 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Mahomes added 15 rushing yards on six attempts.

Through three postseason games, Mahomes has thrown four touchdowns to no interceptions. He’s thrown for at least 215 yards in each game, with Sunday being his best completion percentage of the postseason. He will be the preferred fantasy quarterback for the Super Bowl.

Isiah Pacheco was able to play despite coming into the contest as questionable. He rushed 24 times for 68 yards and one touchdown and added 14 receiving yards on four catches.

It was the second time this postseason that Pacheco got 24 rushing attempts in a game, and the third straight time he’s scored a rushing touchdown. Sunday’s outing was his best as a pass catcher.

He’ll be a popular starting option for the Super Bowl and probably be one of the top options for players to score a touchdown.

Expectedly, Travis Kelce continued to serve as Mahomes’ favorite target. He caught 11 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown on 11 targets.

Kelce has been a stud for the Chiefs all postseason. He’s gone for at least 70 yards in each game, and now scored three touchdowns over the past two weeks. Kelce will be another popular player to use for props in the Super Bowl.

Not many other receivers did much else for Kansas City, but Rashee Rice and Marquez Valdes-Scantling made some big plays.

Rice caught eight of his nine targets for 46 yards. Valdes-Scantling had 38 yards on two grabs, with one coming late in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

While the numbers for those two wide receivers haven't jumped off the page across the past two postseason games, they will be the next two most popular Chiefs to utilize in the big game.

It’s worth mentioning the Kansas City defense as well. They’ve been one of the better units in the league this season, and are the biggest reason the team is still playing.

Two of the team’s takeaways came in the end zone, and it’s easy enough to see what two touchdowns would have done to the final outcome. The KC defense will have to put up another strong game in a couple weeks in order for the Chiefs to repeat as champs.

Be sure to check back in the days leading up to the Super Bowl for several more articles on the Chiefs.

Ravens’ Can’t Overcome Mistakes

We already mentioned the turnovers and penalties that hurt the Ravens’ chances, but let’s dive deeper into some of the team’s numbers from Sunday.

Lamar Jackson, the likely MVP this season, had great numbers by the end of the game, but he made some poor decisions that cost his team. Jackson completed 20 of his 37 attempts for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He added 54 rushing yards on eight attempts.

Jackson’s 300+ total yards were probably better than a lot of people expected going into the game, but the lone touchdown was definitely a surprise. Jackson also lost a fumble and threw an interception. It was one of Jackson’s poorest outings of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Jackson signed a massive contract before the start of this offseason, so this offseason should be a much smoother one for him. The Ravens now will be tasked with figuring out how to take their roster to the next level in order to overtake the Chiefs in the AFC. While Baltimore has a handful of talented playmakers on offense, getting new running backs and wide receivers is likely going to be near the top of the offseason to do list.

Aside from Jackson’s rushing attempts, Baltimore struggled mightily to get going on the ground. To be fair, the team only attempted eight rushes outside of Jackson’s runs, so many would say they abandoned the run.

Gus Edwards had a 15-yard run on the day, but only gained five more yards on his two other carries in the game. Justice Hill was the only other back with any carries, gaining just 3 yards on three carries. Receiver Zay Flowers, who we’ll cover more in a bit, had two carries for 4 yards.

For a team that really relies on the run, to see 16 rushing attempts to 37 passes is definitely not what you expected. It’s hard to establish the running game without a lead, and the hosts never led in the contest. 

Part of the problem is that the Ravens lost a couple backs during the season, and while they trusted the couple guys they had, things probably would have been quite different if the Ravens would have been at full health. Baltimore’s running back room is set to see Edwards and J.K. Dobbins hit free agency this offseason, and with Keaton Mitchell working his way back from a major injury, I’d be shocked if there isn’t at least one new name in the backfield when next season kicks off. I think there’s a good chance there’s two or even three new bodies, whether it be guys picked up in free agency or ones that were acquired in the draft.

Now it’s time to discuss Flowers some more. He caught 5-of-8 targets for 115 yards and a touchdown, but he was the one that lost a fumble in the end zone as he tried to score in the fourth quarter. 

The rookie made plenty of big plays for the team this season, but the one fans will likely remember the most is the fumble in this contest. That’s just how the NFL works. Hopefully, Flowers can build on his strong rookie season and not let this play haunt him moving forward. He looks to be an offensive cornerstone for Baltimore.

Outside of Flowers, no other receiver had over 40 receiving yards.

Nelson Agholor caught a 39-yard pass across his three targets. Hill was targeted seven times in the passing game, catching four for 34 yards. Odell Beckham caught half of his six targets for 22 yards. Edwards had a 16-yard catch on his lone target.

Tight end Isaiah Likely had 16 yards on two catches and three targets. Mark Andrews made his long-awaited return, but only had 15 yards on two catches and targets. Rashod Bateman gained 2 yards on one catch and three targets overall.

Not many of those numbers pop off the page, which is why I think Baltimore prioritizes getting some more pass catchers to surround Jackson. Beckham and Agholor are both free agents, so there should at least be a couple new names for Jackson to target next season - if the Ravens don’t bring back either receiver. Andrews and Likely are a solid 1-2 punch at tight end, but Baltimore needs to make sure they have other options in the passing game if a guy like Andrews goes down again in the future.

The Baltimore defense was one of the most feared units in the league all season, and they really played fine on Sunday. They lacked any game-changing plays, but certainly did enough to give their team a chance to win.

I full expect the Ravens to go all in this offseason, as their window to win it all is now.

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