Laddie Morse
It’s finally here. Game one of the 2024 regular season between the Kansas City Chiefs and the visiting Baltimore Ravens. The NFL may have messed up the rest of the Chiefs schedule but they got this one right. It will be wonderful to see the Ravens taking on the Chiefs at home, in Arrowhead Stadium, GEHA Field.
Sure, the Ravens might have a little extra motivation since they lost their last game, the AFC Championship game, of the 2023 season. However, this time the Chiefs will be at home, as if they had won the right to the BYE Week last year. In any event, the Chiefs will be raising the Championship banner right in front of the team who thought they’d be doing the same. It’s crazy good drama and I’m here for it. All of it.
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Predictions
Most places have the Chiefs as 3+ point favorites.
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USAToday
3 out of 4 writers at USA Today are picking the Ravens to win this one.
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Lorenzo Reyes: Ravens 23, Chiefs 17
Tyler Dragon: Chiefs 24, Ravens 23
Safid Deen: Ravens 26, Chiefs 23
Richard Morin: Ravens 23, Chiefs 21
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Iain MacMullen: Ravens 24, Chiefs 20
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ArrowheadAddict
The staff at ArrowheadAddict is in 100% agreement,Chiefs win.
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Patrick Allen – Chiefs 24, Ravens 20
Tyler Brown – Chiefs 27, Ravens 20
Price Carter – Chiefs 28 Ravens 22
Max Cashio – Chiefs 21, Ravens 17
Matt Conner – Chiefs 21, Ravens 18
Braden Holecek – Chiefs 31, Ravens 23
Scott Loring – Chiefs 33, Ravens 23
Greg Morse – Chiefs 28, Ravens 21
Shawn O’Brate – Chiefs 31, Ravens 20
Charles Robinson – Chiefs 26, Ravens 24
Stacey D. Smith – Chiefs 20, Ravens 17
Lucas Strozinsky – Chiefs 24, Ravens 17
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Injuries
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Adisa Isaac is a 3rd string WLB and Rasheen Ali is a 3rd string RB. Seems like Andy Reid has the need to be more forthcoming in the Injury reproting department than his opponents.
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Game Time Weather
While it may be raining at the beginning of the game, it should be calm by the end of the Chiefs and Ravens contest. The only possible hangup could be lightning. In that case, the Stadium will be cleared and the game will be delayed.
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Weather provided by Weather.com – Photo Credit
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Stopping the Ravens Running Game
While K.C. had success against the Ravens during the recent AFC Championship game, the game tonight may come down to one aspect: can K.C. stop the Ravens running attack? Now that the Ravens have added Derrick Henry, some time referred to as King Henry becasue of his prowess at running the rock, the Chiefs may be challenged more than ever to try and stop the Ravens rushing attack. Here’s some data on the Chiefs history of stopping Henry:
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So, half the time the Chiefs have been able to hold Derrick Henry under 100 yards… but half the time they haven’t. Either way, the Chiefs have lost 4 out of the last 6 times they faced the Tennessee Titans… Henry’s old team. While the obvious key to winning is stopping the run, especially when it comes to Derrick Henry, he’s not the only problem the Chiefs will face on the ground.
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Slowing Down Lamar
While I don’t prefer running QBs, Lamar Jackson just so happens to be the best running QB in the NFL (in 2023). Last year Jackson gained 821 yards and that’s 164 yards more than the second place QB who had 657 (Justin Fields) on the ground. Many Chiefs fans may scoff at the notion that Jackson is a problem, but he also threw for more than 3,600 yards, the most in his career. His 3,678 yards passing may have been 15th in the league, but when his 821 yards rushing was 1st overall you have to sit up and pay attention.
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Why Run-First QBs Usually Fail
What I don’t like about QBs who are excellent at running the ball, is that they don’t take advantage of their playmakers as much as they could if they were a pass-first QB. When you are a run-first QB, all your WRs and RBs know it and wait to see what you will do, making their contribution “less-than” in terms of importance to the team. Over time, those same WRs and RBs don’t feel valued and also don’t like not winning. A run-first QB thinks he can deliver the win and everyone will like it… but the other playmakers don’t feel the love and respect they should feel.
That may be the #1 reason I don’t think Lamar Jackson will win for the Ravens… especially when they play against a balanced team like the Kansas City Chiefs and a QB like Patrick Mahomes.
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Cornucopia of Clashes
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Odafe Oweh vs Kingsley Suamataia
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Chris Clark (pictured) said this on the most recent podcast of LockedOnChiefs:
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“The matchup I’m most looking forward to is [the Ravens’
WLB] Odafe Oweh going against [LT] Kingsley Suamataia,
Kansas City has to be able to protect [QB Patrick] Mahomes.
Suamataia’s first start in the NFL in a real game that matters,
and, it’s going to be on the league’s biggest stage that they
have right now”
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I couldn’t agree more and this matchup may determine the whole game if Suamataia doesn’t consistently hold up and keep Patrick Mahomes’ jersey clean. On the flip side…
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Chris Jones vs the Ravens OL
Chris Jones has his choice of matchups, especially when it comes to the all important third downs.
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Rice vs the Ravens DBs
We should watch to see how quickly Rashee Rie can impact this game. From Henry Ettinger:
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“They [the Baltimore Ravens DBs] actually allowed
the 12th most receptions to WRs in 2023 and 4th most
targets to the position. Beyond that, three most popular
route concepts the Ravens gave up were Curls, Flats
and Screens (44% of targets). Guess what Rice’s three
most popular routes are? Curls, flats and screens….”
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Spags Blitzes vs Lamar’s Mobility
One of the great matchups in this game will come when Chiefs DC Steve Sapgnuolo decides to Blitz against Lamar Jackson.
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How to Watch or Listen to This Game
When the Ravens meet the Chiefs tonight at 7:20 PM CDT, on Thursday evening, you can either watch the game on NBC or sign up for NFL+ by clicking here, or if you live abroad, you can get International NFL+ by clicking here. If you are watching the game on NBC:
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You can also listen to the game with Mitch Holthus and Danan Hughes, at 96.5 FM, by clicking here, to listen online.
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What do you think of the Ravens vs the Chiefs matchups?
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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