Last year, the Ravens opened the season against the Chiefs, who were labeled the “worst possible matchup at the worst possible time.” Will the Ravens avoid doing so a second time?
Last season, the Baltimore Ravens opened the season on the road against the back-to-back defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Two of the NFL’s super powers — with their superstar quarterbacks — went toe-to-toe. The game even decided by a toe, with Isaiah Likely being an inch from scoring a touchdown that would’ve allowed the Ravens to tie or go for the win.
out by an inch #Kickoff2024 pic.twitter.com/TUeV7bxF6z
— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
The game was a heartbreaker for Ravens fans. The Chiefs bounced Baltimore from the AFC Championship Game months prior, then started the next season 1-0 at their expense. But Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr wrote a piece after the September 6 tilt that resonated.
The Ravens were critiqued for their roster changes. They had a new defensive coordinator in Zach Orr after Mike Macdonald became the Seattle Seahawks head coach. Critique that already was brimming boiled over. But Orr suggested levity of the situation.
“But what if the Chiefs were simply the worst possible matchup for Baltimore at this point in the season, and the finer points of the Ravens’ overall philosophy are going to work over the long term,” Orr asked. “The Ravens went into Thursday night announcing to the NFL that they are going to negate some of the inexperience on their offensive line with a dizzying array of misdirectional blocking up front that involves almost any offensive player capable of laying a hand on someone else.”
“On paper, this is a solid idea, except during the very rare moments when you happen to be playing against a team with a generational talent as an interior defensive lineman (Chris Jones), who can break up the misdirectional blocking and clog up the power running game, as well as a defense that is so good at tackling in space collectively that it was able to blunt even the greatest collection of skill-position players in the NFL when it faced the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII.”
Orr challenged the notion of just how many other teams can go into a heavyweight bout against Baltimore and defeat them. We know now only four others had the ability to do so. And a painful fifth one in the Divisional round.
You can argue it was fewer, as the Ravens beat the hell out of themselves in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders and again in Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns.
Turning to 2025, the Ravens will open the season again facing the team to knock them out of the previous season’s playoffs. The Bills will be prepared.
The Ravens must avoid repeating their mistakes of the postseason — and last year’s beginning.