Chiefs hold off Ravens (by a toe) in thrilling season opener
Kansas City rookie first-round pick Xavier Worthy caught a 35-yard touchdown pass and ran for a 21-yard score as the Chiefs began their quest for a third straight Super Bowl title with a thrilling 27-20 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the NFL’s regular-season opener on Thursday night.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson appeared to hit Isaiah Likely for a 10-yard touchdown as time expired but, after video review, the tight end was ruled to have landed with the tip of his cleat out of bounds.
When officials initially ruled the play a touchdown, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh signaled to go for a two-point conversion rather than attempt to send the game to overtime.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards with a touchdown and an interception, making just enough plays to outlast Jackson and the Ravens in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship Game.
Rashee Rice caught seven passes for 103 yards for the Chiefs while tight end Travis Kelce caught three passes for 34 yards with girlfriend and pop star Taylor Swift in attendance.
After each team scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the game and combined for three field goals in the second quarter, the Chiefs took a 20-10 lead on the first drive of the second half on a 1-yard run by Isiah Pacheco.
Under pressure for much of the game behind an offensive line with three new starters, Jackson scrambled to his right and hit Likely for a 49-yard touchdown to cut the margin to three on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Jackson completed 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards with a touchdown and added 122 yards rushing on 16 carries.
On the ensuing drive, Worthy came up with perhaps the biggest play of the game, hauling in a pass from Mahomes on a second-and-10 play from the Baltimore 35 and giving the Chiefs a 27-17 lead with 10:25 to play.
A 32-yard field goal by Justin Tucker pulled the Ravens within seven with 4:54 left in the game.
Baltimore got the ball back at the two-minute warning but with no timeouts. On a first-and-10 play with 43 seconds to play, Jackson threw a 38-yard pass to Rashod Bateman to the Kansas City 10.
Jackson then threw a pair of incompletions before the ill-fated throw to Likely to end the game.
Baltimore running back Derrick Henry, who was signed as a free agent in the offseason, ran for 46 yards on 13 carries and scored on a 5-yard run on the game’s opening drive.
The Chiefs tied the game at 7-7 when Worthy took a flick from Mahomes and ran past the Ravens defenders for a 21-yard score with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones had a strip-sack on Jackson on the second play of the second quarter that was recovered by Felix Anudike-Uzomah on the Baltimore 14. The Ravens defense held, however, limiting the Chiefs to a 32-yard field goal by Harrison Butker to make it 10-7.
The Ravens failed to convert a fourth-and-3 when Zay Flowers caught a pass from Jackson and was tackled at midfield for a 1-yard gain on the ensuing drive. However, the Chiefs again had to settle for three points, this time a 31-yard kick by Butker that provided a 13-7 lead with 5:44 left in the half.
An interception by Ravens inside linebacker Roquan Smith at the Baltimore 49 with 1:44 to go in the half led to a 25-yard field goal by Tucker that cut the gap to 13-10 at the break.
