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Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the Baltimore Ravens‘ 27-20 loss Thursday night, a reporter mentioned to Lamar Jackson how he once described the Kansas City Chiefs as his team’s “kryptonite” four years ago.
“Ain’t my kryptonite,” Jackson snapped back.
“What’s that?” the reporter asked.
“Not my kryptonite,” Jackson said.
Jackson and the Ravens fell to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the fifth time in six meetings. From the outside, the Ravens haven’t figured out the Chiefs’ dominance, losing to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game to end last season and then losing to Kansas City to start this season.
Inside the Ravens locker room, the players were pleased with how they fought and came within an overturned touchdown on the final play from potentially upsetting the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. There was an aura of defiance surrounding the Ravens as they left Arrowhead Stadium.
The Ravens were THIS CLOSE to scoring the game-tying touchdown 👀#Kickoff2024 pic.twitter.com/08KjTVFHQZ
— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024
“I’d say this is probably the worst game we’re going to play all year,” Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely said. “So, if this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason.”
Baltimore took solace in how it went blow-for-blow with Kansas City despite poor execution at times. The Ravens were flagged five times for illegal formation, including three on left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Under new defensive coordinator Zach Orr, Baltimore allowed its most touchdowns in an opener (three) since 2021 and kicked itself for the blown coverage that led to a wide-open Xavier Worthy catching a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I believe everyone in our locker room hates losing, point-blank period — coaches, trainers, equipment guys, cafeteria women and men and definitely the players — because we’re out there putting it on the line, blood, sweat and tears,” Jackson said. “And for us to lose to those guys, and the way we lost, even though I don’t want to lose, but I can’t be mad at my guys because we battled.”
Still, with 1:50 left and no timeouts, Baltimore gave itself a chance by driving from its own 13-yard line to the Kansas City 10. Jackson took three shots into the end zone to get the Ravens within one point of the Chiefs, but he was unsuccessful each time.
“I think collectively, as a group, we know that as long as we’re resilient no matter what happens, we can still be in the game,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said. “We’ve got playmakers all around the field. We [can get] back in the game on a drive. We’ve just got to stay locked in, have a belief in one another and let the rest take care of itself.”
Unlike previous meetings with Kansas City, Jackson played just as well as — or even better than — Mahomes.
The Chiefs quarterback threw for 291 yards, one touchdown and an interception and rushed for three yards. Jackson threw for 273 yards — including 127 in the fourth quarter — and one touchdown. His 122 yards rushing are the most by a quarterback in a season opener in NFL history.
This marked Jackson’s ninth career game with at least 200 yards passing and 100 yards rushing. No other player has had more than three such games.
“He showed you what type of player he is,” Likely said. “The two-time MVP [doesn’t] back down to nobody, no matter where we are, no matter whose environment [we’re in or] who we’re going up against. He’s going to show you who he is every snap, every play, whether it’s running or passing. He shows you that he’s Lamar Jackson.”
Jackson just couldn’t make the final play to lift Baltimore. With 18 seconds left at the Chiefs’ 10-yard line, Jackson overthrew Likely in the corner of the end zone and then didn’t see an uncovered Zay Flowers in the end zone until after he attempted a pass to Rashod Bateman.
On the final play, Jackson stepped up into the pocket and ran in a circle before launching a pass to a leaping Likely in the back of the end zone. After it was initially ruled a touchdown, the Ravens were about to line up for a 2-point conversion to attempt to win the game. But the officials reversed the call on a replay review.
“There’s a reason he’s a two-time MVP, but as a defense, we should’ve never put those guys in that position,” Ravens middle linebacker Roquan Smith. “It starts with us as a defense and eliminating explosive plays, eliminating countless mistakes that we had, and then giving the offense as many opportunities to do what they do. We’ll do that the rest of the way. This is the worst we’ll play all season. I can promise you that.”