KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yeah … a toenail separated the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens as the ultimate second ticked off the sport clock in Thursday’s 2024 NFL regular-season opener.
Ravens quarterback and reigning MVP Lamar Jackson directed a formidable 77-yard drive, and for a couple of moments, appeared to have tied the sport as he delivered a go that solely tight finish Isaiah Seemingly may catch behind the top zone. And Seemingly did appear to get each ft down to finish the would-be scoring play, prompting officers to sign “landing.”
However movie overview revealed a smidgen of Seemingly’s proper toe landed on the white of the again boundary line of the top zone, which means he was out of bounds. No catch. Sport over. Chiefs win 27-20. Waves of reduction and jubilance washed over the Kansas Metropolis devoted. Heartbreak suffocated Baltimore’s flock.
out by an inch 😱#Kickoff2024 pic.twitter.com/TUeV7bxF6z
— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
A toenail? That’s it? Sure and no.
The vast majority of the primary 59 minutes and 59 seconds of the sport mirrored a far higher margin of discrepancy and the truth that even in a flawed efficiency, the back-to-back Tremendous Bowl champion Chiefs stay the toast of the league. It additionally confirmed that the Ravens — one of many AFC’s elite groups, who additionally fell to Kansas Metropolis in gut-wrenching style within the convention championship sport final January — have a methods to go in the event that they anticipate to overhaul the champs. So do the NFL’s 30 different groups.
GO DEEPER
A Lions-Chiefs Tremendous Bowl? Mahomes reclaiming MVP? The Athletic workers’s NFL predictions for 2024
There have been loads of disjointed moments because the Chiefs kicked off their quest for an unprecedented Tremendous Bowl three-peat. Three first-half drops in scoring place and an interception by Patrick Mahomes on a tipped go prevented the Chiefs from taking a lopsided halftime lead. If not for defensive shortcomings that allowed Baltimore to attain on a 49-yard catch and run by Prone to reduce the rating to 20-17 early within the fourth quarter, the Chiefs would have received comfortably.
But in addition on show:
• The unequalled adaptability and creativity that function the hallmarks of Andy Reid’s offense.
• A close to flawless efficiency from Mahomes, who other than the interception to Baltimore’s All-Professional linebacker Roquan Smith off a tip by Trenton Simpson, accomplished 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and a landing.
• The event of second-year vast receiver Rashee Rice, who recorded seven catches for 103 yards.
• The heroics of one other new weapon in rookie vast receiver Xavier Worthy, who had a 21-yard dashing landing and a 35-yard landing catch.
• The continued dominance of defensive lineman Chris Jones, who recorded a second-quarter strip-sack to place Kansas Metropolis to take its first lead of the sport.
The record goes on.
That is the very last thing the remainder of the NFL desires to listen to, however this Chiefs workforce is best than final season’s iteration. That was clear Thursday night time.
Except for the truth that Kansas Metropolis has the very best quarterback of this era and that Reid and Mahomes share a mind, the Chiefs seem poised to take care of their place atop the heap as a result of Reid and common supervisor Brett Veach have constructed a juggernaut. They accomplish that in a approach that is still removed from stagnant. There are core items, sure. However the evolution stays fixed.
Yr after yr, whether or not it’s draft picks or journeyman free brokers, the coach and GM have excelled at discovering expertise able to plugging holes and filling key roles — some for the quick time period, some for the long run.
Free, every day NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, every day NFL updates direct to your inbox.
It’s a participant like 2021 fifth-round tight finish Noah Grey, who has developed into the right complement to Travis Kelce. Or 2022 seventh-round operating again Isiah Pacheco, who has grown right into a workhorse. Or first-rounders turned defensive cornerstones Trent McDuffie and George Karlaftis, or Rice, a second-round decide in 2023. The most recent difference-making puzzle piece is Worthy, a Texas product, who boasts a 4.21-second 40-yard sprint time and began reverse Rice on Thursday night time.
Profitable drafts and free-agent acquisitions have enabled Kansas Metropolis to maintain rolling regardless of the departures of key gamers like Tyreek Hill, the most effective vast receivers within the sport. Kansas Metropolis’s brass merely appears to be like for an additional piece and figures out easy methods to capitalize on the alternative participant’s strengths.
The ideas of Reid’s offense stay the identical, as they’ve for greater than a decade in Kansas Metropolis. However the Chiefs’ methods of attacking stay ever-changing. A part of this stems from the artistic freedoms the coach affords Mahomes and Kelce. However that future Corridor of Fame duo’s management and affect on their teammates additionally breeds cohesion and flexibility.
“Everyone accepts everyone on this offense,” Mahomes mentioned. “They study a lot from (Kelce) they usually decide his mind and hearken to him speaking to me, and we construct all all year long. You may see (Rice) picked up proper the place he left off, and (Worthy) made some large performs. … We’re going to proceed constructing and constructing and we’re trying ahead to getting Hollywood (Brown) again and see how good this offense might be.”
Mahomes on Thursday handed for practically 300 yards and unfold the ball round to seven go catchers NOT named Kelce. The All-Professional tight finish had a really pedestrian three catches for 34 yards, however that’s as a result of the ever-increasing consolation and effectiveness of Rice, Grey (three catches, 37 yards) and Pacheco (two catches, 33 yards) means Mahomes doesn’t must force-feed Kelce simply to get the offense rolling.
The flexibility extends to the backfield. One third-quarter sequence completely mirrored this. Pacheco (15 carries for 45 yards) got here out of the sport after a 3-yard carry. Free-agent addition Samaje Perine changed him, caught a go out of the backfield and gained 10 yards. On the subsequent play, rookie Carson Steele entered and rushed for five yards. The machine simply retains rolling as a result of each contributor clearly understands his position, and the coaches have a agency grasp on easy methods to use them.
Distinction that with the shortage of consistency in choices and manufacturing for Baltimore’s offense, and the hole between contender franchises feels much more vital.
The Ravens have an all-world quarterback of their very own in Jackson. And this offseason, they signed operating again Derrick Henry in hopes that the longtime Tennessee Titans workhorse may assist guarantee stability and ease strain on Jackson.
However Baltimore’s offense encountered the identical issues Thursday night time that it has all through Jackson’s six seasons because the beginning quarterback. Until Jackson does all of it, there may be subsequent to no spark. Outdoors of Jackson, who could go down as the best dual-threat quarterback the sport has seen, versatility is scarce.
The Ravens are relying on second-year wideout Zay Flowers to proceed to ascend. However Thursday, he was used in a similar way to his rookie season, when he primarily snagged fast hitters and tried to make use of his pace and elusiveness to interrupt these quick throws for giant positive factors. Seemingly did rack up 9 catches for 111 yards and a landing, however the Ravens struggled to get No. 1 tight finish Mark Andrews concerned (he completed with solely two catches for 14 yards).
The struggles of a revamped offensive line left Jackson both scrambling to elude defenders or shortly dumping the ball off earlier than performs may develop downfield. (If anybody may use a burner like Worthy, it’s the Ravens, who till hitting on Flowers’ draft choice final season have yearly swung and missed at vast receiver prospects.)
It was one sport, however Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken should return to the drafting board as a result of his offense regarded so much prefer it did final yr. Until the Ravens have the lead, they wrestle to ascertain a run sport.
As time began to wane, you possibly can sense Jackson’s frustration rising as his line afforded him little time to function from the pocket. So he donned the cape as soon as once more and began calling his personal quantity.
Jackson willed the Ravens again into the sport, delivering 273 passing yards and a landing and 122 dashing yards on 16 carries. However though he’s succesful, 122 dashing yards from Jackson shouldn’t be the recipe for sustained success.
Lamar retains the @Ravens drive alive
📺: #Kickoff2024 on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/JzTSnEAv1F— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
Henry, in the meantime, completed with 46 yards and a landing on 13 carries. However he’s historically at his greatest within the second half of video games, the place after pounding away at defenders within the first half, his bruising runs start to take their toll on the opposition and switch into large positive factors. However as a result of the Ravens trailed for almost all of the sport, they couldn’t afford a methodical, run-heavy strategy.
Jackson and the Ravens mentioned they drew encouragement from their game-ending drive, even when it did come up quick by the centimeters of Seemingly’s cleat.
Self-inflicted wounds from penalties, missed connections on open passes (two ultimately zone earlier than the final play), blown go coverages on protection — and never the Chiefs — price them the sport, Jackson and his teammates insisted.
“They’re not my kryptonite,” Jackson mentioned when requested about his historical past of struggles towards Kansas Metropolis. “They’re not my kryptonite. … The entire sport offers me encouragement as a result of guys fought. We have now to wash up penalties, clear up incompletions and work on scramble drills, make these throws and catch these. … It’s very irritating, however we had been busting our behinds on the market. We’re making an attempt to win a sport on the market, and it felt like each time we had an enormous play there was a flag and we are able to’t be having that.”
It’s a protracted season, the Ravens perceive. However they missed a chance to make an announcement towards the Chiefs. They imagine one other alternative will current itself. And when it comes, they anticipate to ship.
“That’s the worst sport we’re going to play all yr,” Seemingly mentioned, vowing that he and his teammates will enhance because the season progresses, “and if this was the very best they’ve obtained, then good luck.”
You must just like the mindset, however who desires to interrupt it to him?
That actually wasn’t Kansas Metropolis’s greatest. And whereas the Ravens did handle to hold with the champs due to some late-game heroics, they’ll want way more development to overhaul them.
(Photograph of Marcus Williams and Patrick Mahomes: David Eulitt / Getty Pictures)
