The Baltimore Ravens fall to the defending two-time Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs 20-27 for the Week 1 NFL season opener. Although it was a 1 score game at the end, it was 2 scores most of the game and wasn’t that close in reality. Although Isaiah Likely’s toe made it come down to the wire, the team that had the best record last year at 13-4 falls to 0-1 to start the 2024 regular season.
Offense Didn’t Learn from Last Season
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The Baltimore Ravens showed their massive rust and with the offensive line struggling, like last year, it seemed like the playcalling was marginally the same as in 2023 but in a bad way. The bigger story is the amount of penalties they got flagged for on both sides of the ball, but especially with illegal formation.
The Baltimore Ravens got flagged for it 3 times on the first drive and 5 total in the game, as it was mostly Ronnie Stanley “lining up in the backfield”. Not to mention the 2 holding calls and the offensive pass interference that wiped a potential scoring drive. The referees made a statement in general with the number of times they called illegal formation and that might dictate the season.
New featured running back Derrick Henry was rewarded with a touchdown on the second drive, but was just not utilized and was not productive throughout the game. The rusher had just 13 carries for 46 yards, and was outpaced as a receiver mightily by receiving back Justice Hill, who played most of the passing downs as a real factor in the offense.
Lamar Jackson had some great moments but some missed opportunities as well, with a sack-fumble and missed a touchdown to Zay Flowers in the endzone. Jackson finished with 16 carries for 122 yards on the ground, 26/41, and 273 yards through the air, along with a passing touchdown. Flowers had 6 catches for 37 yards as the designated screen target, but the real storyline is Isaiah Likely involved more than Mark Andrews, who had 3 total targets in the game.
Likely almost had the game-tying touchdown as his second and had a breakout game with 9 catches for 111 yards, along with a sick homage to Jackson with his first long touchdown. However, it is concerning the rest of the pass catchers were barely involved, including Andrews and Rashod Bateman, who had one nice catch to end the night.
Hill was the other target-getter out of the backfield, with 6 catches for 52 yards. There needs to be a change with the low average depth of targets next week, as many were behind the line of scrimmage and even the deep pass plays were mostly unsuccessful. The amount of runs Jackson had for the Baltimore Ravens is concerning due to the durability aspect of his game with how long the season is.
Defense Got Burned When It Mattered Most
Despite a few great red zone stops to hold the Kansas City Chiefs to 2 field goals, they were up by 10 most of the game. The Baltimore Ravens were in catch-up mode in the 2nd half and although they were a play shy from tying, it doesn’t excuse some of the miscommunication issues in the backend.
Veteran Marlon Humphrey expected safety help on the 2nd Xavier Worthy deep touchdown and was blown coverage. The secondary in general was vulnerable in the middle of the field against slot receiver Rashee Rice, who had 7 catches for 103 yards. New defensive coordinator Zach Orr had a decent gameplan but it fell apart midway through the game.
Although Roquan Smith made a nice interception on Patrick Mahomes, he was constantly getting picked on by mismatches. The Baltimore Ravens’ first-round cornerback Nate Wiggins was not utilized in the starting rotation to potentially cover the Kansas City Chiefs first-rounder.
Final Thoughts
The Baltimore Ravens will have to turn around the ship and show out at M&T Bank Stadium at home against the Las Vegas Raiders for Week 2. This game plan that was displayed by head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator John Harbaugh cannot happen again. Especially against good opponents, as beating up on lesser teams won’t show if they have learned from past mistakes.
The Raiders have a beefed-up pass rush this year, with Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins. The shaky offensive line from the Ravens will have to fix things against Las Vegas. But what will be critical is the Baltimore defense creating turnovers against an offense with Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback, along with veteran receiver Davante Adams.
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