Ravens aim to use ball-control offense to slow down Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lamar Jackson knows that he will play a big part in stopping the high-flying Kansas City Chiefs offense when he leads the Baltimore Ravens into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.

He won’t make a tackle, though, or cause a fumble or intercept a pass.That’s because stopping Patrick Mahomes and Co. begins with keeping them on the sideline. And to do that, the Ravens quarterback needs to make sure he keeps his own offense on the field.

“Whatever it takes, we’re going to help them out,” Jackson said of the Ravens’ top-ranked defense, “keep the clock running, keep the ball in our possession.”

The Ravens have been good at that all season.

Even before Jackson took over for Joe Flacco, who remained limited in practice this week with a hip injury, the Ravens employed a ball-control style offense. Their average time of possession is nearly 32 minutes a game, third-best in the NFL, and that in turn has helped Baltimore lead the NFL in scoring defense.

It has been even more pronounced after Jackson went under center, though. He has 265 yards rushing to set a quarterback record for a player’s first three starts in the Super Bowl era, and the Ravens have run for at least 200 yards as a team in each game during the corresponding three-game win streak — they are the first team since the 2010 Jaguars to accomplish that feat.

In last week’s victory over the Falcons, who have a score-a-minute offense in their own right, the Ravens held the ball for an astounding 39 minutes, 39 seconds. They did so by piling up 25 first downs, half of those coming on the ground, and running 77 plays to just 45 for the Falcons.

“When you’re on the field for 20 percent less than what you normally have been, you’re obviously going to play better defense and play better as a team,” Ravens safety Eric Weddle said.

“Play great defense, control the clock, play great on special teams, you have a shot at winning. That’s been known here over the years of the way the Ravens play, and we’re going to continue to do that.”