Chiefs vs. Ravens score, takeaways: Defending champs survive late rally by Lamar Jackson and Co., win opener

Kansas City begins its quest for a three-peat with a season-opening win

Thursday night served as the first Week 1 quarterback matchup in NFL history that featured the last two league MVPs in 2022 MVP Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and 2023 MVP Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Mahomes (291 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception on 20 of 28 passing) outdueled Jackson (273 passing yards, one passing touchdown and 122 rushing yards on 16 carries) on the Chiefs' Super Bowl banner-raising night as the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions began their quest for a three-peat with a 27-20 victory. 

Chiefs first-round rookie receiver Xavier Worthy, the NFL Combine 40-yard dash record holder (4.21 seconds) starred for the champs, becoming the third receiver since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger with a rushing and receiving touchdown in his NFL debut, joining Broncos wideout Rick Upchurch (1975) and Vikings receiver James Brim (1987). His first score came on the ground on a 21-yard receiver reverse while his second touchdown through the air occurred on a 35-yard vertical route down the right sideline in which his speed confused Ravens Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey. Humphrey passed Worthy onto a safety in coverage deep down the field, but there was no safety behind him. 

The Ravens' shiny new acquisition, four-time Pro Bowl running back Derrick Henry, plunged into the end zone on a five-yard pile drive near the goal line to cap Baltimore's opening drive with a score. Henry finished the game slightly under utilized with 46 rushing yards on 13 carries, including the score.

Jackson had one last chance to force overtime, starting the Ravens' last-gasp drive on his own 13 after a 48-yard punt by Kansas City. He led them down to the Chiefs' 10 following a 38-yard heave to wide receiver Rashod Bateman with under a minute left to play. Out of timeouts, the clock drained down to 10 seconds until an incomplete pass occurred the next play. Jackson then missed a wide-open Zay Flowers in the middle of the end zone as he was scrambling toward the right sideline. 

His final throw of the night was initially ruled a touchdown, what looked to be a second one to tight end Isaiah Likely after a 49-yard catch-and-run earlier in the half. Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh was signaling for a two-point conversion, but the scoring strike ended up being overturned upon review with Likely's right toe on the white line in the back of the end zone. Game over. Kansas City knocked off Baltimore by seven, the same margin of their AFC Championship game victory in January (17-10). 

Below are key takeaways from the 2024 NFL season opener:

Why the Chiefs won

The return of the big-play offense. Kansas City over the last few seasons was forced to dink and dunk its way down the field as opposing defenses played shell coverage and forced Patrick Mahomes to repeatedly check down. But on Thursday night, the Chiefs created several explosive plays. Xavier Worthy had a 21-yard touchdown run and a 35-yard touchdown catch. Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco and Justin Watson each had catches of 20-plus yards, with many of them coming outside the structure of the offense. If you're looking for reasons to believe in Kansas City being even better this year than last, the opener was a great sign.

Why the Ravens lost

Key mistakes, and one play away. The Ravens had seven accepted penalties for 64 yards. They also took two penalties that wiped away what would have been significantly damaging penalties on the Chiefs. Lamar Jackson was strip-sacked by Chris Jones in the first half. Justin Tucker missed a field goal.

And finally, with mere seconds remaining, Jackson missed a wide-open Zay Flowers in the back of the end zone, then saw Isaiah Likely (9 catches for 111 yards and a touchdown) come within a few blades of grass of putting the Ravens in position to either tie the game with an extra point or go for two and the win. 

Turning point

After the two teams traded touchdowns on their opening drives and then punts on their second drives, the Ravens' next three possessions ended with a fumble, a turnover on downs and a missed field goal. The Chiefs turned those three opportunities into only six total points, but it was ultimately enough to swing the game in their direction.

Highlight play

The Chiefs won the game, and get the glory. But the most spectacular play of the evening came courtesy of Jackson and Likely, who freelanced their way into a ridiculous throw-catch-and-run touchdown from 49 yards out on second-and-17 on the opening play of the fourth quarter. 

Jackson buying time by escaping the pocket and rolling out to his right makes the whole thing possible, but Likely's ridiculous YAC effort -- complete with a Jackson-esque jump-stop cut to get himself into the end zone -- took the play to another level. 

What's next

The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs are 1-0. They get a long break before hosting another AFC North opponent (the Bengals) in a late-afternoon game in Week 2. 

The Ravens drop to 0-1 after losing the AFC title-game rematch. They, too, have a long break coming up, and they play another AFC West team in their next game. They'll host the Raiders in an early afternoon game in Week 2.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:55 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

The Ravens are going to lose this game by a matter of inches. Oh my. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:53 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Oh boy. Zay Flowers was as wide open as you will ever see a receiver and Lamar just threw the ball over his head. That is a BAD miss. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:51 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Bateman makes his presence known

Rashod Bateman had been quiet all night long, with only one catch for 17 yards. He just came up with the biggest grab of the evening for the Ravens to set them up just outside the 10-yard line with a chance to tie the game late. Spectacular grab up the sideline. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:41 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Patrick Moss?

Here's Patrick Mahomes' second career reception. He had to out-jump two Ravens to come down with the ball off a deflected pass -- and it's a good thing he did because the pass would have otherwise been intercepted, but also because catching the ball meant the clock continued running and brought it down to the two-minute warning, so the Ravens won't be able to stop the clock at all on their last-ditch drive.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:37 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Spinning and winning

Incredible play from Pacheco, spinning over the top of two defenders and keeping his knees off the ground to pick up a first down on the screen pass. The dude never stops churning his legs. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:27 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Ravens clock management issues

Baltimore called two timeouts on defense earlier in this half, and now has only one remaining. Down by two scores, the Ravens need to be operating with much more urgency here or the Chiefs might be able to run the clock out after a score, just like they did in the AFC title game. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:18 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Xavier Worthy x 2

Seems like the Chiefs found themselves a big-time playmaker with their first-round pick. He has three career touches in his first game, and he's scored on two of them. This latest one came on a coverage bust from the Ravens, who left Worthy WIDE open up the right sideline for what will likely be one of the easiest scores of his career. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 11:09 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Lamar-to-Likely gets the Ravens back into it

We've seen Patrick Mahomes make plays outside of structure all night. This time, it was Lamar's turn. He scrambled away from pressure to his right and found Isaiah Likely down the field. Likely made the rest of it happen from there with a great run after the catch. Baltimore is back within a field goal. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:58 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Why did the Chiefs punt? 

Fourth-and-5 from the opponent's 40-yard line. Your quarterback is Patrick Mahomes. Your defense is shutting the Ravens down since the opening drive of the game. Why aren't you going for it in that situation? The punt gained Kansas City all of 20 yards of field position.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:47 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Jaylen Watson steps up 

Watson interfered with Zay Flowers on a deep ball earlier in the game, but the play was erased by an illegal formation penalty. The Ravens tested him with another deep ball to Flowers and this time, Watson got his head around and made a play on the ball to knock it away. He has an opportunity to lock down the No. 2 cornerback spot across from Trent McDuffie, with L'Jarius Sneed now in Tennessee. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:42 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Pacheco's one-yard touchdown run ocurred after he departed the game just a few plays earlier to vomit on the sideline, per ChiefsDigest.com. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:38 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Pacheco gets the Chiefs back on the board

Quick scoring drive for Kansas City to open the second half, and it ends with a 1-yard touchdown run by Isiah Pacheco. It looked like his forward progress was stopped before the goal line, but the officials allowed a bit more time and the offensive line (and Mahomes) pushed him into the end zone. 20-10 Chiefs. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:33 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

More Mahomes

This doesn't look like an incredible play, but it takes the absolute perfect amount of touch to get the pass up and over the defender and down into the hands of Rashee Rice in front of the safety to create a huge gain. It's a little Mahomes Magic once again. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:12 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Chiefs lead 13-10 at halftime

After a fast start to the game with each team scoring a touchdown on its opening drive, the defenses took over the proceedings. The only scoring for the remainder of the half came on three field goals, each of which came on a short field following a turnover. At the break, the Ravens have 204 yards on 37 plays, and have controlled the ball for 19:28 to Kansas City's 10:32 of possessions. The Chiefs have only run 22 plays but still hold a three-point lead.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 10:00 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Smith forces sudden change

Roquan Smith was getting picked on by the Chiefs earlier in the game, with KC getting him matched up with Rashee Rice in the slot. But he just came up with a huge play, picking off Mahomes in the middle of the field. Mahomes got hit by Travis Jones as he tried to throw downfield, and Smith took advantage. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:57 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Tucker hooks one

Justin Tucker is arguably the best kicker in NFL history, but he just missed a deep field goal to set the Chiefs up with great field position. The kick came from the left hash and Tucker hooked it wide left from 53 yards out. After making 71.3% of his 50-plus-yard field goals between 2012 and 2022, Tucker went just 1 of 5 on those kicks last year. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:53 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Lamar looking fresh

Much has been made of Lamar Jackson's weight loss this offseason, which was designed to get him back to the more explosive running style he had earlier in his career. So far, so good on that front. He has 6 carries for 47 yards already. He's also 10 of 11 for 80 yards through the air. With the exception of the Chris Jones strip-sack -- which wasn't really his fault as Jones absolutely smoked rookie RT Roger Rosengarten off the line -- Jackson has looked really good.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:40 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Mahomes Magic

It was only a matter of time before we saw Mahomes break out the improvisation. And of course, it's Travis Kelce on the receiving end. This pass gave Mahomes the all-time record for passing yards by a Chiefs quarterback, surpassing Len Dawson. Fittingly, it came on a classic out-of-structure play for a big gain.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:36 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Fourth-down stop for KC

The Ravens quickly moved the ball near midfield to open the drive, but after an offensive pass-interference penalty on Rashad Bateman nullified a short catch by Zay Flowers, they were backed up to third-and-long. After a Lamar Jackson scamble, the Ravens went for it on fourth-and-3, but a quick screen to Flowers was stopped short of the line to gain by star corner Trent McDuffie. Those two have been locked in a battle all night.

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:27 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Big stop for the Ravens

With the Chiefs starting this possession inside the red zone, holding to a field goal is huge for the Ravens. Travis Kelce's holding penalty on the first snap set the Chiefs back, but Marcus Williams made a big play breaking up a pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster at the goal line on third down. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:23 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Chris Jones begins his DPOY campaign

Chris Jones has been one of the best defensive players in the NFL for a long time, but he has been overshadowed among interior defensive linemen by Aaron Donald, who is possibly the best of all time at the position. Well, Jones is making it known that he is now the top dog at the position. Huge strip-sack on Lamar Jackson to set the Chiefs up with a short field opportunity to take the lead. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:17 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Chiefs drive stalls out

After a big start to the drive with back-to-back chunk gains on passes to Isiah Pacheco (23 yards on a checkdown) and Rashee Rice (19 yards on a pivot route), Kansas City stalled out, capped by a sack by David Ojabo on third down to force a punt. (Ojabo beat rookie LT Kingsley Suamataia pretty quickly to get to Mahomes.) Baltimore has gotten some pressure good pressure on the edge so far, which is something to watch out for the rest of the way. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:11 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Ravens back to using heavy personnel

Last season under Todd Monken, the Ravens dramatically scaled back their usage of multi-tight end sets. They used two or more tight ends on 39.5% of their snaps in 2019, dropped down to 22.7% and 23.7% in 2020 and 2021 and spiked all the way to 59.2% in 2022. But last season, that figure plummeted to just 15.7% under Monken. It looks like they are throwing things back to the past, as they have used multiple tight ends on more than half their snaps already tonight. (8 of 15, via Tru Media.)

[Sep 5, 2024 at 9:05 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Chiefs receivers make an immediate impact

Last year, Rashee Rice didn't take on a full-time role until very late in the year. It took until Week 14 for him to top a 70% snap rate. He's been Patrick Mahomes' go-to guy right from the jump this year, on the receiving end of each of his first two passes. And he wasn't the only receiver with a big play: First-round pick Xavier Worthy -- the fastest man in the history of the NFL combine -- took an end-around 21 yards to the house to tie the game. Considering that Kansas City's wideouts arguably cost the Chiefs the game in last year's opener, it's safe to say that they're faring better already tonight. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:58 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

King Henry's crown

Fantastic drive by the Ravens to open the game. Eleven plays, 70 yards and a touchdown on a Derrick Henry run from 5 yards out. Henry had five carries for 17 yards on the drive, while Lamar Jackson went 3 of 4 for 39 yards and ran twice for 19 yards. Baltimore brought Henry in for this type of run behind a new, much bigger offensive line -- especially on the right side. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:54 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Third-down improvement

The Ravens went just 3 of 11 on third down in the AFC title game loss against Kansas City. They have already converted each of their first three third-down opportunities tonight. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:49 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Lamar beats the blitz

That third-down conversion was a big one for the Ravens because it came against a blitz. Only one team has blitzed Lamar Jackson at a higher rate since he entered the league than has the Chiefs, and he has generally struggled on those dropbacks. Evading the rush and finding his checkdown to move the chains is a good sign for Baltimore. 

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:31 pm ET · Eric Kernish]

Henry donning his new threads ahead of the season opener

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:31 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Matchups to watch

Before the game kicks off, check out our in-depth preview of the matchups that matter on both sides of the ball. Here are a few in particular to watch out for: 

• Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes vs. New Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr
• Kansas City's interior offensive line vs. Nnamdi Madubuike
• Rashee Rice vs. Kyle Hamilton
• Travis Kelce vs. Hamilton and Roquan Smith
• Lamar Jackson vs. Steve Spagnuolo's pressure packages
• Derrick Henry vs. Kansas City's run defense
• Zay Flowers vs. Trent McDuffie
• Mark Andrews vs. Chiefs linebackers and safeties

[Sep 5, 2024 at 8:10 pm ET · Garrett Podell]

Both teams are back out on field warming up. The clouds have parted. We are on track for football at 8:40 p.m. ET