"Fly high, clap clap!"
"Fly high, clap clap!"
Arrowhead Stadium surged with boundless energy, the home-field advantage roaring to life, becoming the solid backbone for the young and fearless Kansas City Chiefs offense.
The pressure closed in from all sides on the Baltimore Ravens, pushing down with full force.
But the reason top teams are top teams—the reason titans are called titans—is for moments exactly like this. When everything's on the line, when the pressure's unbearable, they rise higher. Not only do they match the intensity, but they also strike back with ferocity.
That's Harbaugh's Ravens.
Forged through trial and fire this season, the defense was tempered into something real.
1st and 10.
Mahomes suddenly took a mid-range shot—no warning. But cornerback Humphrey was outstanding, sticking tight to Watkins and not only breaking up the pass but nearly intercepting it.
2nd and 10.
A play-action fake handoff to Lance sold the bait, drawing attention. Mahomes threw to Hunt, who made the catch—but was immediately surrounded and taken down. No extra yardage.
3rd and 5.
Lance and Kelce ran a double route, confusing the coverage. Both were open, but Mahomes chose Kelce. He made the catch, moved the chains. Lance served as a decoy, Kelce kept pushing forward, finally going down under triple coverage.
Back and forth. Neither side letting up.
Mahomes tried to spark momentum—but ran into another wall. The rhythm turned choppy again.
Three downs. Three struggles. The Chiefs' offense staggered, but—
Even awkward, they fought tooth and nail, converting each third down, grinding forward with razor-thin margins.
The game was brutal. Exhausting.
Both teams had bled. Bodies drained. But no one backed down.
On the field, every player looked like they'd crawled through mud—red-eyed, gasping, still throwing themselves into every snap.
Then—
"1:11"
Timeout ended. One minute and eleven seconds left. The Chiefs had driven the ball to the opponent's half—
At the 31-yard line. 3rd and 3.
Huff, puff.
Every breath stung the lungs. The noise of Arrowhead faded into a hollow vacuum.
Mahomes shouted adjustments. Baltimore's defense compressed the closer they got to the red zone.
The Chiefs had just tried a surprise ground play—but Baltimore's D-line reacted fast. Three defenders closed in, shutting Lance down right at the line of scrimmage. A wasted opportunity on 2nd and 3.
Lance was visibly frustrated. Just meeting eyes with Ravens defenders, he could feel the killing intent in the air. The tension was flammable.
So how to play this 3rd and 3?
Go to Kelce again?
But both Kelce and Lance were now top targets. Any time either of them touched the ball, it meant triple or even quadruple coverage. Baltimore's red-zone defense ratcheted up to an entirely different level—an impenetrable iron wall.
Mahomes quickly revised the play.
He walked over to Lance. The two exchanged whispers, eyes fixed on Baltimore's formation. After a few seconds, they split back to their positions.
Pistol formation.
This afternoon, the Chiefs' passing game never reached its full potential—thanks to relentless pressure from the Ravens. Still, Mahomes had over 300 passing yards—more than double Jackson's attempts—but the passing game was stop-and-start.
So the Chiefs stuck with the pistol for versatility.
This time was no different.
But Baltimore's defense had seen enough to be wary—who knew when the "Chiefs Special" would appear?
And while the Ravens' defense had done great overall, they still failed to stop the Chiefs completely. They missed chances to force a three-and-out—now they were the ones in trouble.
Baltimore needed to force 4th down. Fast.
Otherwise, the end zone was dangerously close. Their margin for error? Gone.
The tension spiked.
Suggs, Mosley, and the rest were thinking fast. Mosley made his move first—glued himself to Lance. No matter what tricks the Chiefs pulled, Mosley wouldn't be fooled again.
The air was so tight it might snap.
Mahomes didn't hesitate—
"Go!"
He received the snap, took one step back, and raised his arm.
He wanted speed.
A quick short pass.
3rd and 3—he didn't need a big gain. Just a first down. And with the clock ticking down, it was Baltimore—not Kansas City—who had to worry about managing the clock.
This was the opportunity.
Baltimore's front barely moved forward before Mahomes raised his arm. They slammed the brakes and turned—eyes following the supposed pass.
But… where was the ball?
Everyone stared at Mahomes's outstretched hand—but couldn't find the ball in the air.
First thought: misread.
The Chiefs had three receivers on the left side, all running different routes. Maybe the defenders lost sight of who the target was. That would explain why they didn't see the pass.
Second thought—nope. Tricked again.
Fake pass. Real run.
Unbelievable.
Not just because Mahomes's fake throw looked flawless—but because Lance had just been shut down. The run game seemed dead.
Since Lance returned from the concussion scare, Baltimore had locked in on stopping the ground game—stuffing both Lance and Hunt.
Yet here they were—handing the ball to Lance again at the most critical moment.
One surprise, two surprises—when stacked, even tiny misreads can snowball into an opening.
Wait—were they wrong again?
What if this wasn't a fake pass–real run, but just another decoy? What if the real target was—
The right side.
After all, Kelce was over there.
Three receivers left. Only Kelce on the right. But Kelce is Kelce.
If he's there, then that side is always the strong side.
So—was Mahomes still throwing to Kelce?
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Powerstones?
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