THE Baltimore Ravens responded, rebounding from a tough first half to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 35-34 in a wild game. Thursday Night Football game. This high-powered Ravens offense was held to just seven points in the first half, but exploded for 28 points down the stretch to pull out a big win. At 7-3, they could move into first place in the AFC North depending on the outcome of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 10 game.

This game showed how dangerous Baltimore can be. Their attack seemed to be stagnant but revived in the blink of an eye. They managed to score 35 points despite their top two receivers, Zay Flowers and Diontae Johnson, combining for five catches and 40 yards.

This kind of offensive performance gives NFL fans reason to believe that Baltimore can challenge any team in the AFC, even undefeated ones. Kansas City Chiefs. While it shouldn’t be completely ruled out, Chiefs fans shouldn’t be afraid of Baltimore even after the Ravens’ big win.

They won, and their offense is a machine, but can we talk about this defense? More than halfway through the season, it still seems suspect at best, and the secondary in particular remains a problem.

The Ravens allowed Joe Burrow to throw for 426 yards and four passing touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase had a huge 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns. What should have been a comfortable victory given the way the offense was played turned out to be entirely too close for comfort, thanks in large part to the secondary. If Zac Taylor better trained or the refs I didn’t miss several late callsthe Bengals could have easily won it too.

Yes, Kyle Hamilton’s injury impacted things, and new acquisition Tre’Davious White didn’t play, but that secondary was arguably the worst in the NFL, even before that game with Hamilton. Does adding a past his prime Tre’Davious White really change that much?

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Ravens rank last in the NFL, giving up 294.9 passing yards per game. That’s more than 30 fewer yards per game than the 2-7 Jacksonville Jaguars allow. Their offense is great, but can this team really succeed in the playoffs if their defense gets torched repeatedly like this?

The Chiefs will have the difficult task of slowing down Baltimore’s prolific offense, but they have allowed just 18.4 points per game this season – good for fourth in the NFL as of this writing. Is anyone going to doubt Steve Spagnuolo’s defense at this point?

The Chiefs offense hasn’t exactly set the league on fire so far this season, but it has looked better in recent weeks. New addition DeAndre Hopkins I just got his escape game in their Week 9 win. Are we going to assume that Patrick Mahomes won’t set a very beatable defense on fire in the playoffs? Haven’t we seen him do this time and time again?

The Ravens are great and have the offense to win. The Chiefs, however, have one of the best defenses in the league. They’ve already beaten Baltimore this season thanks in large part to their defense, and there’s no reason to believe their offense wouldn’t put up big numbers for Baltimore’s defense.