LOVERRO: Ravens got bullied, baited by the best in the business

When did the Baltimore Ravens lose the AFC championship game Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs?

Was it on the field at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore before the game, when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes kicked Ravens placekicker Justin Tucker’s holding tee out of the way in warmups, prompting some words between the two?

Or was it when Mahomes’ teammate and Kansas City’s chief attitude officer Travis Kelce stepped in, snatched Tucker’s helmet, his tee and his practice ball off the turf and casually tossed them out of the way so his future Hall of Fame quarterback could warm up?

What was the pregame drama all about? Was it to remind everyone that the Chiefs, who posted an 11-6 record this season and who were 4½ point underdogs going into the game against the 13-4 Ravens, were the defending champs and recent two-time winners of the Super Bowl? Was it Kansas City’s response to a perceived lack of respect?

Was it a message that should be familiar to Ravens fans and those of the celebrated HBO show “The Wire” from the legendary character Omar, who once warned his adversaries, “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

The Chiefs’ social media account reminded Ravens fans and everyone else after, with a photo of Mahomes captioned: “When you come for the Kingdom, YOU BEST NOT MISS.”

Ouch.

The Ravens missed. Missed badly. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson missed in what was an important legacy game. The likely NFL Most Valuable Player this season buried his playoff legacy — a 2-4 postseason record when healthy — in the Howard Street tunnel with his woeful performance, completing just 20 of 37 passes for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the 17-10 loss.

It will take a different Lamar Jackson to dig that legacy out.

Jackson, when he wasn’t running around to avoid the Chiefs’ pass rush, missed receivers all afternoon. Tight end Isaiah Likely, who had been Jackson’s most valuable target down Baltimore’s stretch of winning six of their last seven regular-season games, caught just two passes for 16 yards. In an act of desperation, after taking the team to the Chiefs’ 25-yard line halfway through the fourth quarter, Jackson tried to get the ball to Likely in the end zone to tie the game up. Instead, he threw into triple coverage and the ball was intercepted by Kansas City safety Deon Bush. Jackson walked off the field and slammed his helmet down in anger.

Kelce must have gotten a good laugh over that one.

Kansas City’s chief attitude officer set the appropriate for his team all afternoon — a tone that spoke to an unshakeable confidence bordering on arrogance. 

After each of the 10 catches he had for 116 yards and one touchdown, Kelce popped up laughing and jawing in some Ravens defender’s face — particularly late in the second quarter when he goaded Baltimore linebacker Kyle Van Note into a head butt that resulted in a 15-yard personal foul. Soon after, Baltimore defensive lineman Travis Jones hit Mahomes in the head on a pass rush, another personal foul penalty against the Ravens. This all contributed to a 52-yard Harrison Butker field goal with four seconds left to give the Chiefs a 17-7 lead at halftime.

Baltimore was befuddled. No answers offensively and self-destructive in moments of success. 

When Zay Flowers caught a 54-yard pass from Jackson early in the fourth quarter, the receiver was called for taunting after standing over Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and spinning the ball. That backed Baltimore up 15 yards.

Still, it appeared they might be able to salvage something good. Several plays later, Flowers caught a ball at the goal line and, while trying to score, lost control of it at the one-yard line when Sneed knocked it out of his hands. Flowers went to the sidelines and smashed his left hand on the team bench, opening up a cut. The touchdown would have cut the Kansas City lead to 17-14.

The meltdown continued. Down 17-10 after a 43-yard Tucker field goal with just 2:34 left in the game, Baltimore hoped to get the ball back for one final scoring opportunity to tie the game and send it to overtime. But on first down the Ravens were called for having 12 men on the field defensively. Then linebacker Roquan Smith jumped offside but hit a Chiefs lineman so hard he was called for unnecessary roughness.

It was as if every time Kansas City stepped on the field, someone shouted, “Omar’s coming” and the Ravens panicked.

Tucker told reporters Monday that he didn’t think the pregame dustup between him and Kelce was a big deal. “I thought it was all some gamesmanship, all in good fun, but they seemed to have taken it a little bit more seriously.”

Yes, they did. When the Chiefs tossed Tucker’s helmet, tee and football, they threw the Ravens’ heart away with it.

What about the other conference championship game? San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy did what Jackson couldn’t do in a 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions. And Adam Peters, the new Washington Commanders general manager and former 49ers assistant GM, got some bragging rights over the projected favorite for the next Washington head coach, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.