The Ravens are saying their Week 1 matchup against the Chiefs is just another game; it’s anything but.
On Thursday night, the Baltimore Ravens will stand on GEHA field with a raucous crowd of Kansas City Chiefs fans packing Arrowhead Stadium. A pre-game ceremony filled with affinity and praise for the NFL’s back-to-back Super Bowl champions, culminating in the unveiling of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl banner, will be displayed.
For Ravens fans, it will be loathsome. Obnoxious. Unbearable. It will feel like the NFL is pinning them to the field itself and rubbing their noses in the red paint.
The Ravens were the best team in the NFL in 2023, but when it mattered most, they faltered. And their failures culminated in the Chiefs heading to the Super Bowl and ultimately defeating the San Francisco 49ers to become back-to-back champions.
The Ravens say they’re not out for revenge. It’s a different team. It’s a new year.
“Any game I play in, I feel like it’s a revenge game,” Lamar Jackson said. “So, I’m not going just going to look at this game like it’s a revenge game. Anybody we’ve played, no matter if we’ve beat them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win.”
“It’s just this next game,” Marcus Williams said. “We don’t worry about last year, it’s all about what’s going on this year and this year we’re zero-zero.”
But how could it be just another game when they stand yards away from their opponents celebrating their success—and the Ravens’ failures?
While other players avoided the “revenge” narrative, linebacker Roquan Smith acknowledged it.
“Well, obviously, the guys that were here last year are definitely going to carry that over into the season, so it’s about having that and putting that in your back pocket and just using that as motivation on top of the motivation that’s already there [from] being able to do exactly what we do and knowing that this is the first game on the schedule, and [the Chiefs] are in our way of what we want for ourselves,” Smith said. “So, it’s just about going out there and handling business as business should be handled.”
Ultimately, they’re not wrong. This is just one game of 17 regular season contests. A win or loss counts the same on their 2024 record, with the only additional boost being one having a tiebreaker over the other at season’s end, if need be. But emotionally, this means something to the team and to the fanbase.
The Chiefs are one of two teams with a winning record against Jackson. They’ve bested him in four of five contests, including last season’s AFC Championship game. They’re the only non-AFC North team to have double-digit sacks against Jackson. They’re one of only a few teams who can shrink or negate Jackson’s one-of-a-kind wizardry.
The Ravens have been the little brother to the Chiefs since their respective quarterbacks began starting, and offseason rankings entering the 2024 season only amplified it.
- Patrick Mahomes ranks No. 1 among quarterbacks and Jackson is No. 2
- Travis Kelce ranks No. 2 among tight ends and Mark Andrews is No. 3
- Creed Humphrey ranks No. 1 among centers and Tyler Linderbaum is No. 3
- Chris Jones ranks No. 1 among interior defenders and Justin Madubuike is No. 11
- Chiefs rank among the NFL’s best in power rankings and the Ravens trail shortly behind
While the Chiefs don’t outrank the Ravens everywhere (inside linebacker, kicker, safety, etc.), they have the stars —and the (deserved) unending praise— in so many categories it’s become nauseating.
The Chiefs earned their status as the AFC’s champion in the Super Bowl four of the past five seasons, and won three. They’re the dragon guarding the hoard containing the Lombardi Trophy. They’re the big brother holding the trophy high over the Ravens’ heads, who have been futile in snatching it away.
Come Thursday, the Ravens will need to show they have grown up enough to show they can rip it from the Chiefs’ grip now, and more importantly, come January.