SI:AM | Chiefs-Ravens Was the Perfect Week 1 Appetizer

We still have 271 games left.

Jackson and the Ravens fell just short of a fourth quarter comeback Thursday night. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I really wish we could have gotten to see a do-or-die two-point conversion attempt by the Ravens.

In today’s SI:AM: 

🔫 The Chiefs’ new weapons
🖐️ The Ravens’ new O-line
👕 An iconic uniform matchup

More of this, please

Well, that was worth the wait.

After six months without pro football, the 2024 NFL season got started on Thursday night with an AFC championship rematch between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens that fully lived up to the hype. It wasn’t a stone-cold classic like the Chiefs’ legendary comeback win over the Buffalo Bills in the 2021 divisional round, but it had everything you could want out of a regular-season game.

Kansas City won, 27–20, in a game that was tight throughout and came down to the very end. Lamar Jackson was equal parts brilliant (122 rushing yards on 16 carries) and frustrating (missing open receivers in the final moments). The Chiefs showed off a much improved group of targets for Patrick Mahomes, including rookie Xavier Worthy, who had two touchdowns in his debut. The Ravens also unveiled an unexpected offensive focus, leaning heavily on second-string tight end Isaiah Likely.

In that respect, it was a game that will give us plenty to talk about before Week 1 is in full swing. How much better will the Chiefs offense be this year after a surprisingly pedestrian 2023 on that side of the ball? Will Likely supplant Mark Andrews as Baltimore’s top tight end? How far can Jackson take this team?

Those sorts of things are fun to talk about, but what really made the game the ideal season opener was that it was just a dang good football game—particularly the fourth quarter. The Chiefs scored a touchdown to take a 27–17 lead with about 10 minutes left after a broken coverage left Worthy all by himself along the sideline, giving Kansas City a sizable but not insurmountable lead. The Ravens responded with a long drive down the field to score a field goal and make it 27–20, then got a defensive stop to get the ball back with just under two minutes to play. (Kansas City was able to run three minutes off the clock in just five plays because Baltimore had used two timeouts earlier in the half on defense.)

The Ravens’ final drive was thrilling. Jackson made things happen with his legs, either scrambling to pick up yardage or maneuvering in the pocket to extend plays and give himself time to find an open receiver. The latter is what he did on the ninth play of the drive, after the Chiefs had done a good job of limiting the Ravens to short gains. There were 43 seconds on the clock and the ball was near midfield. Hope was running out for Baltimore. As the pocket collapsed around Jackson, he calmly slid up into an open space and delivered a bullet on the run to Rashod Bateman, who made a leaping catch for a 38-yard gain. Suddenly, the Ravens were back in business.

Baltimore had three shots at the end zone with the game on the line but failed to convert on any of them. On the first, Jackson overthrew an open Likely in the corner of the end zone. On the second, Jackson had a miscommunication with his receivers and missed an open Zay Flowers. The third and final chance was exactly the kind of game-ending play you want to see as a fan.

Once again, the Chiefs got pressure on Jackson in the pocket, forcing him to run around literally in circles. He then managed to spot Likely open in the end zone and threw a brilliant pass where only the receiver could grab it. Likely came down with the ball, the referee signaled a touchdown and the NBC cameras cut to Ravens coach John Harbaugh on the sideline signaling to his offense that he intended to go for a do-or-die two-point conversion with no time left on the clock. It was a moment well worth staying up until midnight for.

And then the air was taken out of the moment when a replay showed that Likely’s toe was just barely out of bounds. The touchdown was taken off the board and the game was over.

It was exactly the kind of game that fans spend six months waiting for. Two of the best teams in the conference, playing an evenly matched contest that came down to the final play. And it was only the first game of the year. Not every game this week or this season is going to be that good, but it was fun to get the season started with a game that reminds us why we anticipate the NFL’s return so eagerly.

Michigan faces its first real test of the season, hosting Texas on Saturday. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Post-Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The best of Sports Illustrated

• Conor Orr argues that the Ravens’ Week 1 loss shouldn’t raise too many alarm bells because Baltimore’s new offensive line still needs time to coalesce.

• Matt Verderame was extremely impressed with the Chiefs’ new offensive weapons in their season-opening win.

• Pat Forde wrote about this weekend’s big Texas-Michigan game and why it’ll be a matchup of two of the greatest uniforms in sports.

• Michael Rosenberg argues that the Raiders have missed their window to trade Davante Adams.

• Tom Verducci explains why Shohei Ohtani’s pursuit of a 50–50 season isn’t just another statistical chase.

• Here are Michael Fabiano’s five biggest fantasy football sleepers in Week 1.

• Chiefs superfan “ChiefsAholic” was sentenced to prison time for a series of bank robberies.

• American Jessica Pegula reached her first grand slam final after winning in the semis of the U.S. Open on Thursday night.

The top five…

… things I saw last night:

5. The scene in the San Marino locker room after the men’s national team won its first game in 20 years and its first competitive game in its history. The microstate of 33,000 people beat Liechtenstein, 1–0, in the UEFA Nations League.
4. Jason Benetti’s call of Parker Meadows’s go-ahead grand slam.
3. Colorado School of Mines punter Blake Doud’s 80-yard boot that was downed at the 1.
2. Isiah Pacheco’s presence of mind not to give up on the play when he was tackled on top of a defender.
1. Isaiah Likely’s run after the catch on a 49-yard touchdown.