Loss to Chiefs ends 14-game regular-season winning streak

Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the Ravens’ 34-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 3 of the NFL season:

Daniel Oyefusi, reporter: The Ravens were outcoached and outplayed by the Chiefs, plain and simple. It’s only Week 3, but when you lose the way the Ravens did in a game that was essentially a measuring stick for how you stack up in the AFC, it has to feel worse. For all the offseason acquisitions and changes the Ravens have made since the teams’ last meeting, none really made a difference. The pass rush was nonexistent, Kansas City receivers ran uncovered and there was no downfield passing threat that the Ravens spoke so optimistically about in training camp. When you’re a team as talented as the Ravens, regular-season feats only count so much. The team could win the rest of its games — and they’re talented enough to do it — but they’ll still face questions regarding whether they can get past the Chiefs in their pursuit of a championship. It’s really the only thing that matters at this point.

Jonas Shaffer, reporter: The Ravens don’t just have a Patrick Mahomes problem. They have a problem playing from behind. On a night when the defense looked as bad as it did against the Titans in their playoff loss, quarterback Lamar Jackson and offensive coordinator Greg Roman just looked lost with a deficit. This is a long season, with three more months of trying to get it right ahead. But the Chiefs executed at a different level, and it’s fair to wonder where the Ravens’ postseason ceiling is.

Childs Walker, reporter: The Ravens haven’t been humiliated like this since a Week 4 loss to the Cleveland Browns last season. This wasn’t a case of a few plays going the wrong way. The Chiefs executed a superior game plan on both sides of the ball while the Ravens stumbled into amateurish mistakes. Give Kansas City coach

Andy Reid and his staff credit for finding every vulnerability in the Ravens defense and give Patrick Mahomes credit for exploiting those vulnerabilities. He was nearly perfect on a night when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson played one of the worst games of his career. The Ravens lost almost every important matchup in what was billed as a meeting of the NFL’s two best teams. They didn’t block well enough, cover well enough or secure the ball well enough. So this becomes a time for self-assessment in Baltimore. The Ravens weren’t sharp enough, possession to possession, to keep up with the NFL’s best. Now, they know how far they have to go to reach their lofty goals in January.