Chapter 1 of the three-peat was written on Thursday night. The Baltimore Ravens were head and shoulders the NFL’s best team last regular season and they had the MVP on their side. They are one of the few teams that can give the Kansas City Chiefs real problems.
If we are fortunate enough to experience this matchup one more time in the AFC championship game, fans and critics alike should be very excited and not give it a second thought.
Thursday night is what we have been waiting 206 days for. It gave us a thrilling first game of the NFL regular season. The Ravens had a couple of opportunities to win it late. Lamar Jackson, looking thinner and faster after shedding 20 pounds, made electric plays with his legs as usual. He had a least a 100 rushing yards for the 14th time in his career, which is a record for a quarterback. He got the Ravens into position for a touchdown late in the game, trailing 27-20. But the Chiefs held on for a huge win, and it was as close as could be.
Jackson committed a cardinal sin missing a wide-open Zay Flowers in the end zone with five seconds left. On the final play, Jackson scrambled and seemed to hit tight end Isaiah Likely for a touchdown as time expired. Just like Kevin Durant vs. the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Final three years ago, Likely’s toe was barely on the back line and it was ruled incomplete after a replay review. The Chiefs survived.
In the end, the NFL’s season opener Thursday night was decided by referee Shawn Hochuli undertaking a video review.
With a capacity crowd that included pop superstar Taylor Swift waiting with bated breath, Hochuli needed just seconds looking at that final play before making his announcement: Likely landed with his toe on the endline, putting the Baltimore tight end out of bounds, and giving the Chiefs a 27-20 victory as they began pursuit of a record third consecutive Super Bowl title.
“T thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Still think it was a touchdown.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe defending champion Chiefs made an under the radar first-round draft pick in lightning-fast receiver Xavier Worthy, who had the fastest time at the combine, 4.21, and he made a huge difference right off the bat with two touchdowns. He found pay dirt on an end-around on his first NFL touch, and then came through in the clutch, scoring a key touchdown in the fourth quarter when the game was hanging in the balance. Just what coach Andy Reid and signal caller Patrick Mahomes drew up and needed: a game-breaking rookie receiver who is faster than everyone else on the field.
The Chiefs looked like a well-oiled machine on Thursday night. The Ravens gave them all they could handle. Perhaps they will play again in January. It could not have been closer on Thursday night.
Both offenses came out of the gate strong. All-Pro running back Derrick Henry finished his first drive with the Ravens by scoring a 5-yard touchdown. The Chiefs responded immediately on their first possession with a 21-yard touchdown to Worthy. It was Worthy’s first touch in the NFL and he raced past the defense for a score.
Then the defenses took over for the rest of the half. There were no more touchdowns in the first 30 minutes of action. Jackson lost a fumble in Chiefs territory but the Ravens held Kansas City to a Harrison Butker field goal. Mahomes made an uncharacteristic mistake, throwing an interception near midfield late in the first half but the Chiefs held Baltimore to a field goal. The Chiefs went into halftime with a 13-10 lead.
The Chiefs’ defense continued right where they left off going into the second half. Baltimore’s new patchwork offensive line, which is replacing three starters from last season, had the unenviable task of blocking the Chiefs’ front. That is why Jackson was constantly throwing short passes, often to Flowers. Jackson completed a lot of passes but not for many yards.
The Ravens finally manufactured a big play they needed. Jackson connected with Likely downfield, and Likely weaved through defenders for a 49-yard score. That cut the Chiefs’ lead to three, 20-17. The game was far from over, especially with Jackson on the Ravens’ side.
But the Chiefs got another big play out of their new and exciting rookie weapon to extend the lead.
Worthy struck gold again. This time it was on a blown coverage. He got behind the defense and Mahomes hit him for a 35-yard touchdown, right after Likely’s touchdown.
The Chiefs struggled mightily at the receiver position in 2023 and still won a Super Bowl over the San Francisco 49ers. Kansas City played on Thursday night without their other dynamic speedster injured Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown, and the combination of Rashee Rice, Worthy and Brown could be devastating all season.
The Ravens are one of the NFL’s best teams and still were not done after Worthy’s second touchdown. They got a field goal, then a stop and the Chiefs were forced to punt at the two-minute warning. Jackson took over at his own 13-yard line, trailing 27-20 with 1:50 remaining on the clock and one timeout. Jackson hooked up with Rashod Bateman on a 38-yard catch to the 10-yard line, but the clock was running under 20 seconds. Jackson overthrew Likely in the end zone, then appeared to miss Flowers on second down. He said in his postgame press conference that pass was actually intended for Bateman. Regardless, he will regret that play.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh even signaled for his team to go for the winning 2-point conversion, though they never got the chance.
“I thought our guys (overcame) setbacks at times, and fought like crazy to overcome. It looked like we had an opportunity there to tie the game up and try to win,” Harbaugh said. “Didn’t happen at the end, but our guys fought.”
The pass to Likely seemed to be a touchdown and the Ravens were ready to go for the 2-point conversion and the win. But the replay showed Likely was barely out. The Chiefs could exhale.
“Definitely nerve-wracking because it looked good from my angle on the sideline,” Mahomes said, “but then the first view you could see his cleat. … You have to wear white cleats next time. That’s my advice for him.”
