The Baltimore Ravens were Super Bowl favorites going into the playoffs, but those dreams came to a crushing end when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated them in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Afterward, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton expressed his raw, sober thoughts on the loss.
“It’s tough,” Hamilton said, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “You don’t really think of this outcome, and what happened is kind of a shock. But I respect every guy on this team, [and I] respect [the Chiefs]. It’s a great team. [They have] great players, and they did what they needed to do to win.”
The Chiefs came away with 17-10 win in spite of being held scoreless by the Ravens’ defense in the second half. Baltimore was hit with five personal fouls, was penalized eight times overall and turned the ball over three times in what was probably its sloppiest effort of the 2023-24 campaign.
Hamilton understands that the Ravens’ uncharacteristic miscues likely cost them the game, and, with that, a trip to the Super Bowl.
“But for us, I feel like it was more of us making more mistakes, and I think that’s the bright side; we can come back on this over the offseason,” Hamilton said. “It’s going to hurt for a minute, but we can build on it.”
But Hamilton isn’t ready to throw in the towel.
“So, back to square one again,” he said. “[We’ll] do the same thing, and hopefully, next year, win this game and get to the Super Bowl.”
The 22-year-old logged 11 tackles in the loss, which represents his highest total of the season and playoffs.
During the regular season, Hamilton played in 15 games and racked up 81 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions, a forced fumble, 13 passes defended and a defensive touchdown en route to a Pro Bowl selection and First-Team All-Pro honors.
The Notre Dame product was selected by the Ravens with the 14th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.
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