The NFL is back after what felt like a long offseason to all the fans and we get a screamer of an opening game. The defending champs, the Chiefs, are taking on the Ravens on Thursday Night, a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game. In the offseason, the Ravens added the mighty Derrick Henry to strengthen their run game even more while the Chiefs revamped their wide receivers by adding the likes of Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and cutting Kadarius Toney. It’s a fresh start for both these teams and I think we’re in for a pulsating primetime encounter between these two AFC giants.
The Baltimore Ravens got undone by the Chiefs last year and Kansas City controlled most of that game. The Ravens had the ball for only 22:30 while Kansas City had it for 37:30 (CBS SPORTS). Anytime Mahomes gets the ball for the majority of the game, the chances of winning go down for the opposition by quite a lot. In this Thursday night game, Baltimore needs to sustain possession and not let Mahomes get the football too much. Adding Derrick Henry to this offense was a great acquisition, in my opinion. Having Henry and Lamar Jackson allows the Ravens to pound the run and take a lot of time off the clock. The Ravens were already a run heavy team but having a elite running back gives them even more physicality and that will wear down the defense. Now, Jackson doesn’t need to run as much which I think will improve his passing game. Also, the Ravens will have Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews on at the field at the same time which is a great move. Likely was awesome last season when Andrews was hurt and having both of them on the field together along with Zay Flowers will have positive results. The Ravens have learned from their loss to the Chiefs and I believe we’ll see better performance from them this time around.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are winners, they are the kings of the NFL. This team, against all the odds, found a way to bring home another Lombardi Trophy to Arrowhead Stadium. They had flaws at the receiver position last season but this offseason, they fixed them. I absolutely love how they got Marquise (Hollywood) Brown from free agency and Xavier Worthy late in the 1st round of the draft. Both these players are incredibly fast and they could stretch the defense. Having speedsters like these two opens up even more chances for Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce. They’ll get a lot of underneath passes and this makes the Chiefs offense even more dangerous. They have more options now and so many more things Matt Nagy can do with his offense. The Chiefs defense on the other hand, I don’t think they’ll be as good as last season but still efficient. They lost L’Jarius Sneed to the Titans which is a big loss but they still have 1st team All-Pro Trent McDuffie. Against the Ravens, they have to shut down the run and like last time, force turnovers. Kansas City is even better than last time and they have a real shot to defend their Super Bowl title.
My prediction of this game is that the Chiefs will win 27-20 against the Ravens. Kansas City has improved their offense significantly and it’s a better group now. Their passing game will be a big reason why they win this game and I’m expecting a big night from their pass catchers. Playing in a primetime game against that loud KC crowd is difficult and I feel that the Ravens will falter in this early season test. The Chiefs will be fuelled by their home crowd in their opener and grab the win in Week 1 of this critical game. You can watch this game 9/5/2024 at 8:20 PM EST on NBC and Peacock.
Even though its extremely early in the season, this game could be a factor for potential playoff seeding late in the season. Will the Baltimore Ravens get revenge after last season’s loss and hand Kansas city a second consecutive loss in the NFL opener or will Andy Reid’s Chiefs delight Chiefs Kingdom by defeating their AFC foes?