The Ravens fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, 27-20, in Week 1 of the 2024 season. RSR staff react to the loss here.
Rob Shields
This game basically went exactly as I said it would. The Ravens Oline was going to struggle at times, the defense would have a miscommunication and they would have a costly turnover. I said the Ravens would lose this game and we would walk away thinking they should have won. That’s essentially what I think happened.
There was a lot to like tonight. Defense played pretty well although I don’t get why they weren’t chipping Rashee Rice at the line of scrimmage. But overall, they played well. Odafe Oweh was all over the place. Corners held up well. Most of the yards were on the linebackers.
Offensively, Derrick Henry didn’t get into much of a rhythm but had his moments. Lamar looked like 2019 Lamar with his running. He missed two potential TDs at the end of the game but I don’t think he was able to throw the pass to Likely the first time and my guess is he thought Flowers would sit down on his route instead of continuing to go. And of course Likely just missing the TD is heartbreaking.
Officiating didn’t help us either.
Chris Schisler
This team just has to lose these games in the most painful way available. A centimeter in the back of the end zone was the difference. The Ravens showed fantastic resilience. Everything went wrong. The offensive line was horrendous – the right side was inept. The odd illegal formation penalties racked up. The Ravens got some bad bounces. It was still a game. The good news is that the Ravens may have gotten their toughest game out of the way in week one.
A good gritty game went the Chiefs way. It’ll happen. The Ravens should get credit for finding ways to stay in the contest. Their plan A underwhelmed because the line limited what the offense could do. Lamar Jackson and Isaiah Likely had some crazy highlights added to their reel. Justice Hill was a big key, oddly more than Derrick Henry.
Two things are obvious. Daniel Falaale is probably going to have a tough go at right guard. His feet get stuck and he gets beat. Secondly, the Ravens must rethink their rotation at linebacker. Trenton Simpson looked good. Malik Harrison…not so much.
Lamar Jackson was both miraculously fantastic and frustratingly disappointing. He kept the team in the game with his legs. He missed two opportunities of a lifetime in the red zone. The shot to Likely was so close to glory. Harbaugh was going to go for two. That means there’s a chance the toe tap out of bounds prevented a different kind of heartbreak.
Derek Arnold
What a strange game, but such a very “Ravens” game. Lamar Jackson was the best player on the field again, and pretty much single-handedly kept his team in it for long stretches. But the Ravens offensive line, and game plan that we can only assume was put in with their expected struggles in mind, did him no favors. Derrick Henry scored his first Ravens touchdown on the season’s opening drive, then disappeared for huge stretches. That rebuilt OL was as bad as, or worse, than even the realists expected. And Todd Monken’s game plan of endless horizontal passes was quite something. Letting r0okie Roger Rosengarten line up against Chris Jones deep in his own territory for his first NFL snap – which resulted in a sack-fumble – was quite a choice.
Throw in more ridiculous clock management by a John Harbaugh-led team at the end of both halves (Jackson deserves some blame as well, especially at the end of the game, but it’s been going on for far longer than he’s been here), as well as some incredibly questionable officiating, and it was all too much to overcome against the two-time defending champs.
On the bright side, other than a busted coverage (new DC probz, sigh) and some bad results when linebackers got caught in coverage against WRs, the defense help up decently, and bailed out the offense after that early turnover and another fourth-down failure around midfield to keep things from getting out of hand early. Isaiah Likely announced himself as a budding star. If only he wore a half-a-size smaller shoe… (then we could have been lamenting another two-point conversion failure instead).
This Ravens team should win a lot of football games, but Jackson playing hero ball for 60 minutes isn’t sustainable. Let’s hope for a better offensive game plan moving forward.
Tanner George
What a heartbreaking way to open the season. Losing by a less than an inch is unbelievably painful for a team that was looking for revenge Here’s my reaction to tonight’s action:
— The Ravens clearly don’t trust their offensive line. Todd Monken was extremely limited in what he could call today simply because the coaching staff doesn’t have faith in the blockers up front. This offense was almost exclusively limited to quick/screen passes, and the holes weren’t there in the run game. Lamar was running for his life far too much. We’ll see if this unit begins to jell as the season progresses, but my hopes aren’t high.
— There’s been a changing of the guard at tight end. Tonight’s game made it overwhelmingly clear to me that the Ravens view Isaiah Likely as the TE1 of the future, and that faith was justified by a massive performance. Mark Andrews was relegated to just a pair of catches, and it seems as if he may no longer be Lamar’s most trusted target. Perhaps nothing made this more clear than Jackson looking for Likely on nearly every play on the final drive, with Andrews nowhere to be seen.
— The secondary is also a major concern. Marlon Humphrey got burned on multiple occasions, which is very disappointing considering reports of his progress in the offseason. Sure, we expected growing pains from Zach Orr, but this defense was simply a shell of its dominant 2023 iteration tonight.
— John Harbaugh didn’t have his team ready to play. There were an unacceptable amount of illegal formation penalties called, especially on Ronnie Stanley. For all the talk of building penalty discipline in the offseason, this was definitely a letdown. Harbaugh’s clock management in the second half was nothing short of abysmal, burning two timeouts in the 3rd quarter because of confusion on the defensive side of the ball. This needs to get cleaned up, since it’s little things like this that end up costing you ballgames. After all, they just lost by a toe.
Facing the Chiefs, arguably the best team in the league, is undoubtedly a tough test. However, it’s hard not to be discouraged by how the Ravens played tonight. Let’s hope they’re able to iron out some of those wrinkles next Sunday, when they welcome the Raiders to the Bank.
Kevin McNelis
Literally a game of an inch. The Ravens were as close as they could possibly have gotten to a win, and fell short by a toe on Isaiah Likely’s cleats. An absolutely horrendous way to lose a ball game.
You can’t fault the Ravens for effort. The struggling O-line made the early offense an uphill battle, but they looked SO poised in a lot of situations against arguably the best team in the NFL. They did themselves no favors by burning timeouts in defensive situations early in the second half, likely costing themselves more opportunities.
I hate to be that guy, because I despise when people complain about officiating… but that was probably THE story of the evening. Everyone wanted football to be back, but NO ONE wanted The Ref Show. Some of the calls that went against the Ravens tonight could have tipped the scales back in their favor, whether it was the atrocious roughing call on Madubuike, the phantom holding call on Linderbaum, or any of the illegal formation calls that somehow eluded the Chiefs despite lining up pretty much the exact same way.
Any one of them being the right call might have given the Ravens the inch they needed. Depending on how this season ends, this one could hurt that much more.
Darin McCann
This was one of those games that was probably amazing to watch for a fan of the other 30 teams, a huge relief for fans of the Chiefs and a bit of a gut-blow for the fans of the Ravens. But what a game.
Lamar Jackson missed a few opportunities to connect for a tying touchdown at the end of the game, fumbled on a sack that set up the Chiefs for a first-half score and was a little off on a few downfield shots. He was also probably the best player on the field on this night, and almost dragged the Ravens to an improbable win.
It’s fine. A new offensive line struggled, as we anticipated. The new coaching staff saw a few breakdowns on defense, as expected. And a few things just didn’t go the Ravens way.
And they still nearly pulled it off, thanks to remarkable performances by Jackson, Isaiah Likely and a defense that battled adversity all day.
Chad Racine
No real surprises in this game as it played out like a lot of us expected.
The offensive line is a work in progress. They weren’t disastrous and should be vastly improved later in the season
Trenton Simpson is living up to the hype and a huge upgrade in coverage over Patrick Queen. I think he’s going to have a better year than Queen this year.
I predicted an Ojabo sack so I’m happy to get that right.
Henry was a non-factor in this game and that was also not surprising. He did look a little slow in his initial first steps. He should become more of a force as the season continues.
Isaiah Likely was the best offensive player in training camp and may be the best offensive player this season.
It’s just week one. Now a nice 10-day break and the team looks like they will be legitimate contenders this season.
Nikhil Mehta
Let’s get the inexcusable out of the way: mismanaging the clock multiple times and repeated illegal formation penalties put the Ravens at a near-insurmountable deficit throughout this game. A few defensive lapses on Zach Orr’s first go-around in the regular season were to be expected – remember Mike Macdonald’s first couple of blown leads? The defense, I think, will be fine. We’re still talking about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, here. The pass rush was there, and Mahomes was incredibly difficult to wrap up, like he always is. The defense still stood strong on several high-leverage downs, but needs to clean up their discipline when finishing plays.
The offense is a bigger worry. For years, Lamar Jackson has had to play perfect football to beat the NFL’s best teams. That’s just not sustainable for a full-season Super Bowl run. But he could only get help from Isaiah Likely down the field, partially due to Todd Monken’s screen-heavy playcalling. The Ravens clearly didn’t feel like they could pass protect adequately (and they couldn’t), which raises more questions about their offseason management of the offensive line. This unit has to get better as the season goes on, while staying healthy. Same goes for the WR corps. They struggled to get separation downfield and let the Chiefs’ DBs aggressively play downhill against screens and the run game.
But somehow, some way, the Ravens were a toe away from victory. That tells you a lot about the talent on the field, none greater than Lamar Jackson. His vibe has been different this offseason: not just more determined, but more adamant about his (and his team’s) ability to climb the NFL mountaintop. Like he has so many times in the past, he willed the Ravens through this game to within an inch of a win. It’s a worthy reminder that as long as #8 wears purple and black, there’s no game Baltimore can’t win.
Jared Pinder
This was a game where the Ravens constantly shot themselves in the foot, yet they still managed to nearly win the race. The referees were awful in this game, and the offensive line was a constant issue. The offense didn’t look in sync until the second half when they made some huge plays. The defense was not that good, and Zach Orr showed some weaknesses. How many times did he have a linebacker on Rice? The miscommunication on the Worthy receiving touchdown was the turning point for this game. They nearly pulled off a magical win that fell an inch and a potential two-point conversion short—more heartbreak for the Ravens against the Chiefs.
18 Responses
For the first game of the season, I thought our boys played fairly well. I feel like Likely was the player of the game for us.
The OL needs a bit more consistency and a whole lot a polish. Despite the hiccups this group got their feet wet tonight as a unit, and that’s a very positive thing. I felt there was some communication issues in the secondary that could use some work too. The biggest point of contention was the situational football at the end of the 2nd quarter, not coming away with 7 points there. Overall, I felt our guys looked prepared and executed very well.
As far as the toe issue at the end there, I’ll just quote Happy Gilmore and leave it at that, “Hey Ref, IS THAT GOAL REGULATION SIZE OR WHAT!?”
I am not sure what game Tanner George was watching. WAY to emotional. Everyone else was pretty much spot on.
I’m coming to the conclusion that Todd Monken is Marc Trestman with a National Championship ring. He had Winston passing 78,000 times in Tampa, and he is in love with the shotgun here. I don’t buy the talk about not running because of the O line. Historically that is wrong. When huh have a young offensive line you run the ball. They needed Lamar under center, with Henry running downhill and running play action passes off of that. Monken-like a lot of OC’s who wish they were Andy Reid-would rather show you how smart he is.
Case in point, coming out of halftime, instead of a Henry run, we got a fake to Henry and an end around to Flowers. Again-cute. A back like Henry needs VOLUME. He’s not like Mitchell. His effect on a defense is CUMMULATIVE throughout the game. But I fear he will not get that unless Biscotti orders it because Monken is a finesse OC.
Totally agree w/ you. You will never get the most from Henry by only using him on 1st and 10 and 3rd and 1.
He needs volume which means 18-20 touches per game. He wears down the defense late in games and that’s when he can break off big runs…..no standing on the sideline. I was done/ w/ Monken after the AFCCG and nothing has changed. He simply doesn’t know how to use ALL his weapons to win games.
Maybe Andres is not 100% yet, but 2 targets is an absolute joke for a player of that caliber. I would expect 6-8 at a minimum each week.
Having Andrews and Henry COMBINE for 15 touches is completely inexcusable…it just is.
Having Lamar play hero ball all night is a reflection on the coaching staff. If Lamar has to run 16 times a game….more than your RB1 each week, then I can promise you two things:
1. Lamar will get hurt and miss multiple games
2. The Ravens will miss the playoffs
I’m so sick and tired of the coaching staff being a liability and NOT an asset.
We’ve had more OCs than you can count, but the one constant is……Harbaugh! Flacco saved Harbaugh repeatedly, or they never would have won a SB! But, those days are long gone and they’re not likely to win another one until Harbaugh is long gone!
Yep….Ravens will not win another SB w/ Harbs. Been saying this for over 10 years.
Sooner or later you need to move on.
Incidentally, in defense of Monken, his game plan seems to be an indication of his knowledge of Jackson’s shortcomings! He is run oriented and has little to no accuracy with long passes! Hence, the emphasis on the short passing game and his running! Also, I’m convinced that this is Harbaugh’s team and he controls the offense! How else do you explain all the OC failures EXCEPT for Gary Kubiak, who brought all his assistants with him and was in complete control of the offense, which is why Flacco enjoyed his most productive season! I rest my case…….
As the title of this article states, most of these reactions are a little emotional. This game is what you would expect for a team’s starters first game playing together. The oline played as was expected. The DC has some issues. Harbs clock management is the same. Fans will leave the game thinking we almost won if……. They played the Chiefs who until some team beats them in the playoffs are the best team in football. I do wish Likely didn’t make that bulletin board comment but he is young. On the bright side, it’s the first game and No major injuries.
2 points. The Ravens beat themselves. To many problems starting at the top with time management, play calling, personnel groups, and discipline. Reid teaching Harbaugh more lessons on how to coach.
The officiating was horrendous. It was tough enough playing one opponent but having to beat the Chiefs and the refs was just to much. Either the refs were getting paid or they were watching something else.
If you like running QBs, we have the best! That said, if he continues to run like he did last night, the legitimate question is will he be able to make it through an entire season! His long passing is still problematic, but that’s not “Likely” to change! And, neither is…….Harbaugh! It’s a long season and only time will tell how far we go……
The rust was apparent last night with many vets getting their first real football contact since January. Hundreds of grass drills and weight training alone does not put you in football shape. I had them losing this one . Lots of ifs but they should get better as the season rolls on. As usual I agree with Armchair on Lamar we all know it and it gets beat like a drum every season they hand him out the 51 million. Lets hope he goes on a run with his arm late in the season into February. As for the head coach he must not have gotten the league memo that O lineman lining up in the offensive backfield won’t be tolerated anymore? I actually applaud that the Cartel in NYC will finally get the O line back on the line of scrimmage. They have enough advantage over the defense as it is these days.
Overall, the game played as expected. I said before the game that this game really meant nothing no matter what the outcome. It was the first game of the season. Years ago teams would use preseason to work on cohesion and rhythm, but this literally was the first game for many of the starters and you could tell they were not clicking on all cylinders. But time and repetition should fix that. The offensive line definitely has to play better and IMO they will. The defense struggled early but played better down the stretch. MacDonald is gone now and Zach Orr needs to make the D his. Time should correct any issues displayed in the first game. This game in no way dashed hopes that Baltimore is a Super Bowl contender.
In the grand scheme at the end of the regular season a loss to an AFC team could be a tie-breaker in home field advantage in the playoffs. We had the perfect set up last year in the AFCCG and we blew it. I won’t hold my breath waiting for that opportunity to happen again any time soon.
Where was Nate Wiggins?
Yes, where was Nate??
Where was Pancake Pat Ricard?
Where was Ty Wallace?
The Offense was disjointed and Lamar was running way too much. Will we ever have an efficient offense that features runs by RBs and quick passes to open WRs? Sideways tosses to Zay for a yard or two are not gonna cut it. I think we will be OK as the season progresses, but questions remain about the OLine and Lamar’s ability to run the offense as a passer. As always, time mgmt and penalties still an issue under Harbs.
The Defense was not consistent, but should get better. Can we not have LBs cover the other teams fastest WRs. Bottom line it was a rough draw to start the season in KC and we looked like a team that needs a bit more time to figure things out.
The problem with the problem with Raven’s coaching is that Harbaugh has been making the same mistakes for years with no noticeable improvement. And it is beginning to appear that Todd Monken may not be up to the challenge of calling offensive plays at the level of the best NFL offensive coaches. We can hope that’s not true. This season will make that clear one way or another. The thing about the Ravens is that the players can sometimes play above the limits of their coach. SO there is always hope.