The Kansas City Chiefs opened the NFL season with a 27-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday, winning by a few blades of grass.
The Ravens were trailing by seven points but were deep inside Chiefs territory with only four seconds to go when Lamar Jackson connected with tight end Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone as time expired. The catch was initially ruled a touchdown and Baltimore appeared ready to go for two and the win, but on replay, Likely’s right toe was shown to have landed out of bounds by mere inches.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards in front of a packed house at Arrowhead Stadium, which included pop megastar and Travis Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift.
Baltimore opened the scoring on its first drive of the matchup before Kansas City scored 13 straight points to take a 13-7 lead. After a Ravens field goal late in the first half, the Chiefs took a 20-10 lead on an Isiah Pacheco run to cap their first drive of the second half.
The teams then traded touchdowns before a Justin Tucker field goal brought the game within seven, setting the stage for Baltimore’s dramatic final drive.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for 273 yards and ran for 122 more. He was mostly fantastic playing behind an inexperienced and struggling offensive line. He did make one costly error late, missing a wide-open Zay Flowers in the end zone on the second-to-last play of the game.
Running back Derrick Henry made his Baltimore debut and ran 13 times for 46 yards and a touchdown. Likely had nine catches for 111 yards and a score.
How likely was Isaiah Likely’s touchdown? Just a 0.3% chance!#NextGenStats powered by @AWSCloud pic.twitter.com/IvFbKdeyi1
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 6, 2024
The Chiefs were led on offense by receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. Rice caught seven passes for 103 yards and was the most targeted receiver. Worthy, a rookie from Texas, scored two touchdowns — one rushing and one receiving.
Kansas City’s next game is against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 15. The Ravens play the Raiders on the same day,
