If last night’s game is foreshadowing for what’s in store for 2024, then we are in for a cinematic football season. Coincidentally for the NFL, these season kickoff games seem to always come down to the final snap of the game. I am not complaining as exciting football is a gift not to be taken for granted, it’s just worth mentioning.
Last year it was the final plays of a 21-20 Lions upset in Arrowhead, and last night it looked like the Ravens were going to defy all odds and steal one from the Chiefs. In the final minutes of the game, the Ravens got a huge stop after a batted ball on 3rd down almost turned to an interception that would have put the Ravens in Chiefs territory with a timeout and over a minute to score. Instead, Mahomes turned receiver and tracked it down to keep the possession and flip field position with a punt. A Lamar Jackson scrambling pass to a leaping Rashod Bateman got the ball inside the 10-yard line with 35 seconds left. Inexplicably (to me at least), the Ravens did not spike the ball to stop the clock and preserve precious time. Instead, they ran a flag route to the back corner of the end-zone in search of Isaiah Likely, who couldn’t elevate high enough for the ball and came down awkwardly on his shoulder forcing him to leave the game. On the ensuing play, Jackson was pressured again and found space to throw to a wide-open Zay Flowers. The closest Chiefs jersey to Flowers was behind him in the stands, but Jacksons throw went wide-left leaving Flowers stunned all alone in the endzone. With four seconds left, no timeouts, and one final play remaining, Isaiah Likely came back into the huddle to everyone’s surprise. The final play saw Likely elevate in the back of the endzone in double-coverage and come down with the ball leaving Arrowhead quiet as a church mouse. They had done it! They drove the length of the field in under 90 seconds and had given themselves an opportunity to win. Jon Harbaugh was seen on the sidelines holding up two fingers letting the world know he was going to try to win it right then and there. But in the midst of all this, NBC showed a damming replay that crushed the hopes of Ravens fans and forced a collective sigh of relief for the Kansas City faithful as the final read 27-20, Chiefs.
Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely (80) catches a pass with his toe out of bounds as Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton and linebacker Drue Tranquill, left, defend as time time expires in the second half of an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs won 27-20.(AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Heartbreak for Baltimore, such a roller coaster of emotions thinking you had pulled off the impossible and were about to take down Goliath on his own turf, then having to walk off the field 0-1 on the season.
Takeaways from Game 1:
There were still some “WTF” moments from the refs last night that had us scratching our heads. One of the biggest moments seemingly got swept under the rug. On 2nd & Goal with :09 seconds left in the first half, the Chiefs defense was out of sorts and Steve Spagnuolo ran down and called timeout for Kansas City. Only problem is Spagnuolo isn’t the Head Coach, he’s the Defensive Coordinator. In the NFL, only Head Coaches (and players on the field) are allowed to call timeout. The problem for the Chiefs was Andy Reid is not as quick as he was back in his days of youth football and can’t get down the sideline like he used to. The side-judge, not realizing Andy Reid wasn’t the one yelling for the timeout, awarded it to the Chiefs. This is a huge no-no in the NFL and the timeout should not have been awarded. Instead, the Chiefs should have been assessed either a sideline warning or a delay-of-game penalty and forfeited their timeout. Instead, the Chiefs sideline got a stern talking to and they continued like nothing happened. Even NBC’s rules analyst Terry McAulay was stumped as to why the officials let this move forward. Very strange and I would imagine to make up for it, the NFL will be leaving a letter on Spagnuolo’s desk with a fine enclosed.
The NFL officials followed their penalty script almost to a T, stressing a newly instituted rule of illegal formation that penalizes an offensive player (more frequently an offensive tackle) for not fully lining up on the line. Tackles will often line up diagonal to the guard next to them, as they feel it gives them a head start in their pass-block set, a head start the NFL deemed illegal in 2024. In the first drive alone the Ravens right tackle Ja’Wuan James got hit with three separate illegal formation penalties. I say they followed the script perfectly because what the NFL always does with new rules is heavily enforce it in weeks 1-3, and then they just stop calling it. Like clockwork. I promise you will not be seeing this called as consistently in the middle of the season as we saw it last night. All-in-all I thought the officiating of this game was fairly even, no calls that have us questioning if the NFL is rigged or not, so that’s promising!
The Chiefs look poised to make it the first ever three-peat in the NFL. No other team has won three consecutive Super Bowls, teams have been close but have never been able to string three together. The Chiefs re-tooled in the draft, taking the speedy Xavier Worthy who scored twice last night. Their pick from two years ago, Rashee Rice, had 7 catches for 103 yards and then Travis Kelce is till “ole’ reliable” for Mahomes. This team run by Andy Reid with one of the better defenses in the NFL may honestly be better than they were last year which should scare the rest of the league.
Lamar Jackson looks like an improved QB from 2023 to 2024. After his MVP campaign a year ago, Jackson in the offseason was very focused on shedding some weight and getting faster as a scrambler. Jackson has always been a mobile quarterback, but on certain plays last year it was visible his speed was declining. Jackson, adapting to his age, hit the offseason training program with full force, and it showed last night. Now, maybe it was because it was only week 1 and everyone has been chomping at the bit to play live snaps, but Jackson’s cuts and movements were noticeably quicker and cleaner last night. He was able to elude defenders with much more ease than last year. One thing I noticed about Jackson last night compared to last year was last year when the pocket would collapse, Jackson would always try to find a way to escape and get out of trouble. Last night, Jackson kept his eyes down field amidst the pressure and proved that he had been working on his pocket presence and showing more patience instead of scrambling on every breakdown.
These two teams will likely win their divisions this year, and we can only hope they face again in the playoffs when the stakes are higher. Because last night? Last night felt like an AFC Championship game with the season on the line. Football is so back.
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