Travis Kelce pays tribute to key Baltimore Ravens identity

The Baltimore Ravens might not have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship, but they certainly left their mark.

For years, the Ravens have prided themselves on being a tough, smashmouth team, and that reputation holds true today.

On the "Bussin with the Boys" podcast , Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce called the Ravens "the bully" while discussing the AFC Championship.

"Having to go into Baltimore, where they are the bully," Kelce said. "That team, that was a f---ing physical team. No. 1 defense in the league. They have that old-school, like the old-school Ravens that we grew up on. Like, you don't f--- around with those dudes."

Kelce said it was fulfilling for the Chiefs to have to go on the road to beat Baltimore and make the Super Bowl, where they went on to beat the San Francisco 49ers .

Podcast co-host and former Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan called the Raven's M&T Bank Stadium (aka "The Bank") one of the best atmospheres in football.

"The Bank might be the best atmosphere in the playoffs — taking Arrowhead aside — because they just do an amazing job of the lights and the fans, they're just nasty," Lewan said. "They are crazy about it."

Lewan called the Titans' divisional round win over the Ravens in 2019 in Baltimore one of the best atmospheres he ever played in.

"It was just electric. The most energy I've ever felt in a building in my entire life," Lewan said.

Chiefs safety Justin Reid also recently paid tribute to the Ravens' identity. Reid said that in the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs' goal was to stop the Ravens' run game and match Baltimore's physicality.

"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 on the "Green Light" podcast . "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."

The Ravens would obviously prefer to receive those compliments as AFC champions or even Super Bowl champions. But if it's any comfort, the entire NFL knows it's not an easy task facing the Ravens in Baltimore.