He Baltimore Ravens responded, bouncing back from a rough first half to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 35-34 in a wild Thursday night football game. This powerful Ravens offense was held to just seven points in the first half, but exploded for 28 points down the stretch to earn a big win. At 7-3, they could jump into first place in the AFC North depending on the outcome of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 10 game.

This game showed how dangerous Baltimore can be. Their offense seemed stagnant but woke up in the blink of an eye. They were able to score 35 points even though their top two receivers, Zay Flowers and Diontae Johnson, combined for five receptions and 40 yards.

This type of offensive display gives NFL fans reason to believe that Baltimore can challenge any AFC team, even the undefeated one. Kansas City Chiefs. While that shouldn’t be ruled out entirely, Chiefs fans shouldn’t be afraid of Baltimore even after the Ravens’ big win.

They won and their offense is a machine, but can we talk about this defense? More than half of the season still seems suspect at best, and the secondary especially remains an issue.

The Ravens allowed Joe Burrow to throw for 426 yards and four touchdown passes. Ja’Marr Chase had a huge 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns. What should have been a comfortable victory with the way the offense played turned out to be too close for comfort thanks in large part to the secondary. Yes Zac Taylor trained better or the referees I didn’t miss several late callsthe Bengals could have easily won it, too.

Yes, Kyle Hamilton’s injury affected things and new acquisition Tre’Davious White didn’t play, but this secondary was arguably the worst in the NFL, even before this game with Hamilton in it. Does the addition of a past-his-prime Tre’Davious White really change much?

Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Ravens ranked last in the NFL, allowing 294.9 passing yards per game. That’s more than 30 yards worse per game than the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) allow. Their offense is great, but can this team really go far in the playoffs if their defense is repeatedly burned like this?

The Chiefs will have a tough task stopping Baltimore’s prolific offense, but they have allowed just 18.4 points per game this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL as of this writing. Is anyone going to doubt Steve Spagnuolo’s defense at this point?

The Chiefs’ offense hasn’t exactly been on fire in the league so far this season, but it has looked better in recent weeks. New addition DeAndre Hopkins just had his breakout game in their Week 9 win. Are we to assume Patrick Mahomes won’t torch a very beatable defense in the playoffs? Haven’t we seen him do that over and over again?

The Ravens are great and have the offense to win. The Chiefs, however, have one of the best defenses in the league. They’ve already beaten Baltimore this season thanks in large part to their defense, and there’s no reason to believe their offense wouldn’t put up big numbers against Baltimore’s defense.