Chiefs star says he's 'glad' Ravens stopped running the ball in AFC Championship

The Baltimore Ravens ' offensive attack in their AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs continues to puzzle the NFL world.

In the Ravens' 17-10 loss to the Chiefs, they only gave six combined carries to their running backs. Lamar Jackson also ran the ball eight times while Zay Flowers ran it twice. In total, the Ravens gained 81 yards on 16 carries, as the Chiefs stifled their offense.

Chiefs safety Justin Reid doesn't understand why the Ravens went away from the run, either, but he's not mad about it.

While speaking on "The Green Light" podcast with Chris Long , Reid was asked if he knew "why" the Ravens abandoned the run.

"You know what, I'm not exactly sure why they abandoned it, but I'm glad that they did," Reid said.

Reid said that while the Chiefs knew Jackson is a "dynamic passer," their game plan was to stop the run.

"That team is brute and brawn and is blue-collar and is going to run the ball down your throat," Reid said of the Ravens. "We knew if you don't stop the run, they're not going to stop running it. So, the emphasis was to stop the run and we wanted to make a statement there that we could both match and exceed that physicality and try to change the dynamics of the game. Try to make them change what they're doing and try to make them find a different way to beat us than running the ball."

The Ravens, from head coach John Harbaugh to offensive coordinator Todd Monken, have since come out and admitted they did not run the ball enough.

Perhaps that inability to run the ball in the biggest moments of the season led the Ravens to sign Derrick Henry this offseason. It may also be why Jackson is working on audibles at the offensive line and learning to adjust calls based on defenses.

That loss to the Chiefs has seemingly haunted the Ravens all offseason. The NFL world will be watching to see if Baltimore can recover and get over the hump this season.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs' ability to shape-shift and take away an opponents' strength is why they're back-to-back champions. They're the standard the Ravens will have to elevate their game to if they hope to win a Super Bowl.