After 2-0 Start To Season, Ravens Shift Attention To Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's a Victory Monday for the Baltimore Ravens, who got the job done in their first road game of the 2020 season Sunday against the Houston Texans.
The Ravens took care of business with a decisive 33-16 win in Texas, improving their record to 2-0.
Teams have what they call a 24-hour rule: they get a day to enjoy a victory before moving on to prepare for the next opponent. The Ravens, though, sped up that clock this week considering who's next on their schedule.
The Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, who won an overtime thriller in Los Angeles on Sunday, come to Baltimore for a primetime game next Monday night in a matchup of the two top Super Bowl favorites in the league.
Head Coach John Harbaugh told WJZ Sports Director Mark Viviano that while every game is important, next week's is bigger.
"Who wouldn't get excited for a game like this, you know, when you're playing a team that is the defending champs, the favorites to win the whole thing again going forward," he said. "... it's not something that we downplay, we don't ignore (it), we try to embrace it and make the most of it."
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The Ravens are well aware of what's at stake; while they start the season undefeated, they're aware they've been far from perfect.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson was under pressure for much of the first half of Sunday's game. The Texans sacked him four times.
In the second half, the team changed course with a power running game that led them to a 17-point victory, so few people are complaining about the result.
Harbaugh gave the Texans' defense credit for how well they contained the mobile quarterback and how effectively they covered Ravens receivers to buy time for their pass rushers.
Upon further review, he said it wasn't as bad for the Ravens as it looked.
"Sometimes you've got to take a sack," he said. "We did a pretty good job, really. As I watched the tape I felt better about it after watching the tape than I did watching the game during the game."
The Ravens and Chiefs face off at M&T Bank Stadium at 8:15 p.m. Monday.
