As far as Baltimore fans are concerned, the NFL couldn’t have picked a better opener to the 2024 season than having the Ravens travel to Kansas City to play the Chiefs on Sept. 5.
Maybe someone will come up with a name like the “Revenge or Avenge Bowl” as the bitter feeling still lingers in town from the 17-10 AFC championship game loss to two-time defending Super Bowl champs on Jan. 28. Fans still talk about it like the game was yesterday. They want to know why running backs Gus Edwards and Justice Hill ran the ball a combined six times for 23 yards, or why quarterback Lamar Jackson preferred to throw 37 passes instead of using open running lanes. They want to know why offensive coordinator Todd Monken abandoned the running game and how coach John Harbaugh allowed it to happen.
They want to know why offensive coordinator Todd Monken abandoned the running game and how coach John Harbaugh allowed it to happen. Unless truth serum is discovered and administered, we’ll never get all the answers. But at least they can give fans some satisfaction as soon as possible: Just beat Kansas City in the season opener.
True, it’s only one game, and it’s not where you start but rather where you finish. But in Baltimore, at least the fans now have something to look forward to after four months of anger. Regardless of what any coach says, the opener is always a big deal. It’s the culmination of a never-ending offseason of trades, additions and subtractions from free agency and the draft, weight lifting, minicamps, training camps and so on, all played out in one week. If your team wins, the entire organization exhales. If they lose, it’s like carrying around a serious case of indigestion for another week.
Plus, this is Kansas City. The Chiefs have one of the loudest stadiums in the league, complete with old throwback music and some of the country’s best barbecue. They even have the best dancing mascot in the league in K.C. Wolf. They could become the first team to three-peat, something that wasn’t accomplished by the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers (twice), San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos or New England Patriots, who all won two titles in a row at one point in the league’s long history. Come on, folks. If you can’t get excited about this game, check your pulse. In the words of Pro Football Hall of Fame middle linebacker Ray Lewis, where would you rather be on the first Thursday night in September than watching Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes play against Jackson?
A year ago, some Ravens fans were feeling cocky about Jackson winning the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and a possible Super Bowl. So, they wanted Mahomes – “The King” they called him – to come to Baltimore. I didn’t. I wanted quarterback Josh Allen and those choking Buffalo Bills here in the title game. Now, it’s different. It’s time to go into Kansas City and make a statement, much like Detroit did a year ago with a 21-20 victory to spoil the Chiefs’ opener the night they hung their championship banner. This isn’t to suggest that the Ravens are as good as last year, but the game should give us some indicators.
The Ravens panicked last year in the AFC title game, but that might change this season with running back Derrick Henry in the fold. The former Tennessee Titans star should carry the ball 25 times a game early in the season, especially against a Chiefs defense that allowed an average of 113.2 rushing yards per game during the 2023 regular season. In the conference title game in January, the Chiefs had four sacks, so how will this revamped offensive line without guards Kevin Zeitler and John Simpson and right tackle Morgan Moses hold up? There are just as many questions about the receiving corps. The Ravens are in good shape with tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews, but can wide receivers Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor and Rashod Bateman beat Kansas City’s outstanding cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson?
Defensively, the Ravens have a lot of building to do staff-wise after losing line coach Anthony Weaver to Miami and defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson to Tennessee. Mike Macdonald, who led the first defense in NFL history to lead the league in fewest points allowed, sacks and takeaways as coordinator, is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks. So, that leaves Zach Orr, 31, as the team’s new defensive coordinator. His first job is to scheme a way to contain Mahomes and slow down tight end Travis Kelce, who had 11 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in Baltimore in January. That’s a huge assignment.
Orr will be going against one of the better offensive minds in the league in Kansas City coach Andy Reid, who has added former Ravens speedy receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown to the roster via free agency and drafted Texas receiver Xavier Worthy in the first round. This game should provide a great matchup of rookies with Worthy going up against the Ravens’ Nate Wiggins, the fastest and highest-rated cover cornerback in college football last season whom Baltimore took with the 30th pick. Worthy ran the fastest 40-yard dash (4.21 seconds) in NFL scouting combine history. Wiggins ran a 4.28. It’s speed versus speed. Plus, we’ll get to see how the Ravens play without weakside linebacker Patrick Queen, now with the Steelers, and safety Geno Stone, who signed with the Bengals in free agency.
There is so much intrigue. The Ravens have had only a few season openers as exciting as this one, and it’s usually when they lined up against Pittsburgh. But this is Kansas City. The Chiefs have won three of the past five Super Bowl titles.
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