Final score: Chiefs fumble game away, lose 36-35 to Ravens

Even as the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense was being annihilated by the Baltimore Ravens’ rushing attack, the Chiefs’ offense was in great position to win — either by a field goal or a touchdown. They drove into Baltimore territory with under two minutes to go, but a costly fumble by running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire ended their chance to win. The defense had a chance to stop the Ravens on an ensuing fourth down, but quarterback Lamar Jackson converted to seal the deal. The Ravens upset the Chiefs, 36-35. Both teams now stand 1-1 on the season.

The Chiefs started on defense after winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half. On the second play, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looked for an open wide receiver Marquise Brown deep down the field — but overthrew him. On the ensuing third down, Jackson’s intended receiver slipped, leading to an easy interception for safety Tyrann Mathieu. He returned the interception for a touchdown.

With the Chiefs up 7-0, Baltimore quickly got three first-down conversions to move into Kansas City territory. Then a blitz didn’t get home — which opened up a huge running lane for running back Devonta Freeman to gain 31 yards to the 10-yard line. On the next play, running back Ty’Son Williams rushed to the goal line; he fumbled the ball thanks to a big hit by cornerback Mike Hughes, but the Ravens recovered in the end zone to tie the game at 7-7.

Starting at their own 8-yard line, Kansas City began with a nine-yard carry by running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. They gained the first down off an RPO quick slant to wide receiver Mecole Hardman. A few plays later, a scrambling Mahomes found Hardman again for 19 yards. After two runs, a third-and-short was converted with a 10-yard completion to tight end Travis Kelce. On the next play, Mahomes stepped up in the pocket off a play-action fake and found wide receiver Demarcus Robinson in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard score.

Down 14-7 midway through the first quarter, Baltimore started their next drive with a 17-yard completion to Brown. On a third-and-short soon after, Jackson converted with a designed run that gained nine and got them into Chiefs’ territory. He followed that up with another nine-yard run, then handed off to running back Latavius Murray to set up a first down at the Chiefs’ 24-yard line. A few negative plays set up third-and-14. Jackson attempted a deep pass to Brown, but Mathieu was all over it and snagged his second interception of the game.

The Chiefs started their second offensive drive with a sideline pass to Hardman for 17 yards. After an offensive pass interference penalty on Robinson pushed the offense back 10 yards, center Creed Humphrey snapped it over Mahomes’ head. As he tried to throw the recovered fumble away, he drew an intentional grounding penalty. These mistakes set up third-and-39 as the first quarter ended. The Chiefs gave their punting team room to operate with an 11-yard completion to tight end Jody Fortson.

From their own 33-yard line, the Ravens gained seven yards on two plays to set up third down with three to go. They attempted to run, but rookie linebacker Nick Bolton made his second tackle for no gain on the drive — forcing a punt.

The Chiefs took over and gained a first down quickly on a 14-yard completion to Kelce. Robinson earned the next one with a 10-yard catch. After two deep targets to Hardman went incomplete, a scrambling Mahomes couldn’t find a receiver on third down — resulting in a punt.

From their own 28-yard line, Jackson started the drive with a gain of 21 yards on the ground. Two plays later, Jackson found Brown over the middle for 20 yards. Setting up in the red zone, the Ravens got into a third down with six yards to go; they converted with a 7-yard catch by Williams. On the following play, Murray scored on the ground to tie the game.

With three minutes before halftime, the Chiefs started with a nine-yard run by Edwards-Helaire. After Tyreek Hill converted on a short pass, Kelce took a pass 14 yards into Baltimore territory as the two-minute warning hit.

Out of the break, Mahomes found tight end Blake Bell for 20 yards on a screen to get into the red zone. Lined up at receiver, running back Jerick McKinnon caught a quick pass and took it down to the Ravens’ two-yard line. From there, running back Darrel Williams powered in to take a 21-14 lead.

Baltimore began their attempt to score before halftime at their 25-yard line with 51 seconds remaining. After a few penalties set them up in a first-and-25, Williams picked up an easy 20 yards. They got 12 yards from tight end Mark Andrews on the next play, then Jackson ran for 14 yards. After one more positive play, Baltimore settled for a field goal to make the score 21-17 going into halftime.

Coming out of the half, the Chiefs started with a run by Edwards-Helaire and a catch by Kelce to gain a first down. Then, a quick pass to fullback Michael Burton gained 11. From 40 yards away, wide receiver Byron Pringle took a short pass and ran to the end zone to extend the lead to 28-17.

Starting out the next drive, Jackson found Brown for 27 yards off of a play-action fake to get into Chiefs’ territory — but a holding penalty on the next play pushed them back into first-and-20. After defensive end Frank Clark forced a 4-yard loss, the Ravens got two big completions — including a 42-yard touchdown catch and run by Brown to make the score 28-24.

Kansas City opened their next drive with a 15-yard run by Hill. A defensive holding call helped the Chiefs continue their drive — and Kelce made the Ravens pay for the mistake by taking a short pass and running 46 yards for a hugely important touchdown. He dodged a handful of tacklers on his way to the end zone.

With the Ravens trailing 35-24, they failed to get much going on their next drive. Back-to-back plays in the backfield by safety Dan Sorensen — the latter being a sack on third down — forced a crucial punt halfway through the third quarter.

With a chance to go up three possessions, the Chiefs began their drive in Baltimore territory with a negative run. A short gain set up third down with 12 yards to go, and a pressured Mahomes made an errant throw that led to his first interception of the season.

Baltimore took over and immediately gained 20 yards on a Jackson scramble. Then, a quick pass to Watkins gained 19 yards and got them into the red zone as the third quarter came to a close.

The Ravens got down to the two-yard line by way of a pass, then Jackson finished it with a touchdown run to shorten their deficit to 35-30; an attempt to score the two-point conversion was stopped with an interception by linebacker Anthony Hitchens.

Leading by five points early in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs began their drive with a first down conversion by way of a quick completion to Hardman over the middle. Doing nothing on the next two plays, the Chiefs found themselves in third down with nine yards to go. A pass attempt to Hill was batted down in tight coverage.

The Ravens took over at their own 32-yard line with 11 minutes to go. They started with an eight-yard run by Jackson, followed by a Murray run to reset the downs. A few plays later, a third-and-short was converted on a fullback dive. A sack by Charvarius Ward was negated by a defensive penalty on Mathieu — and Baltimore bounced back with a 10-yard completion to Andrews and an 11-yard run by Williams. Inside the red zone, the Chiefs forced a third-and-5 — but a Jackson run converted it. A few plays later, he punched it in to take a 36-35 lead; once again, their attempt at a two-point conversion failed.

With just over three minutes remaining in the game, Mahomes came out and found Pringle for 23 yards to start the all-important drive. He followed it up with a 13-yard completion to Kelce over the middle at the two-minute warning.

Kelce grabbed another pass, gaining eight yards out of the break — but on the following play, Edwards-Helaire took a carry and fumbled it away to the Baltimore defense. It was his first career fumble.

The Ravens took over with 1:19 remaining. The Chiefs still had all three of their timeouts. The defense stopped the Ravens for the first three plays — but on fourth-and-short, they went for it and converted, securing the 36-35 victory.

Injuries

There were no injuries during the game for the Chiefs.

Special teams

After the Chiefs’ first touchdown, Harrison Butker made the point-after attempt — even if it bounced off the post to go in. He made all five of his extra-point kicks.

Byron Pringle returned a kick 33 yards in the second quarter.

Mecole Hardman returned a punt 13 yards in the third quarter to allow the Chiefs starting field position in Baltimore territory on a crucial possession.

Statistics