KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sometimes, it’s better to be a bit lucky.
For all of the fireworks the Kansas City Chiefs popped off in officially launching their three-peat mission on Thursday night, they almost blew it. Almost left Arrowhead Stadium wearing egg on their faces.
But here’s to Isaiah Likely’s right big toe.
The Chiefs didn’t merely win the AFC title game rematch against the Baltimore Ravens to kick off the new NFL season, they survived it in a photo finish as Likely’s apparent 10-yard touchdown catch with no time on the clock was overturned by a replay review that could also be seen in HD on the Jumbotrons.
Whew.
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Likely, the emerging tight end, snagged Lamar Jackson’s high heave to the back of the end zone but came with his toe touching – just barely touching – the chalk. Out of bounds. Game over. That’s all, folks.
‘Definitely nerve-wracking,’ Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said after the 27-20 thriller. ‘It looked good from my angle on the sideline, but then on that first view you saw, you could see the cleat. It’s a great football team. I’m sure we’ll see ’em again at some point in the playoffs.’
The best teams, like the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, often find ways to win the down-to-the-wire results that define the NFL’s entertainment value.
The not-good-enough teams, a label in which these Ravens are still looking to shed, leave with lessons. Details, details.
‘He should wear white cleats next time,’ Mahomes said of Likely. ‘That’s my advice for him.’
Ouch.
Around the corner and down the hall from where Mahomes spoke, Jackson, the NFL’s reigning MVP, was still in disbelief – or a bit delusional – about the game’s final play. He wasn’t buying what the replay showed all of America.
‘I thought it was a touchdown,’ Jackson said. ‘Still think it was a touchdown.’
C’mon, MVP. You’ve got to come better than that.
Give the Ravens credit for the battle. When it seemed like the Chiefs were poised to blow them out of the building on a night when Kansas City celebrated by unfurling another Super Bowl championship banner – the franchise’s third in five years – they hung so tough. Likely’s stunning, 49-yard touchdown haul early in the fourth quarter – he adjusted, came back on his route to snag a desperate pass as Jackson heaved on the run, lost Nick Bolton and bolted up the sideline with a toe-tap that led to the end zone – made it a three-point game.
After Kansas City struck with its own chunk play for a touchdown – Mahomes to rookie Xavier Worthy, 35 yards – the Ravens responded with a field goal and a defensive stop to set up the last-minute drama.
Jackson (26-of-41 for 273 yards, 1 TD) nailed a 38-yard throw to Rashod Bateman to move the Ravens to the 10-yard line with 18 seconds left. Then he missed on passes to Likely and Zay Flowers, setting up the all-or-nothing scenario.
Add the other self-inflicted miscues – Baltimore was flagged five times for illegal formation, primarily due to linemen aligned off the line of scrimmage – and the Ravens couldn’t help but think they let their prime-time opportunity to upstage the Chiefs slip away.
No, beating the Chiefs in Week 1 wouldn’t avenge their messy, mistake-filled loss in the AFC title game, but it surely would have been good for the psyche. Now it’s fair to wonder whether they can measure up if, as Mahomes predicted, the Ravens meet the Chiefs again in January.
‘This is probably the worst game we’ll play all year,’ said Likely, who posted a game-high nine receptions for 111 yards. ‘If this is the best that they’ve got, good luck.’
Wow. Clip and save that for the Chiefs bulletin board.
In the past, Jackson referred to the Chiefs as his ‘Kryptonite.’ He would not own that on Thursday night.
‘They’re not my Kryptonite,’ he said.
Whatever, the Chiefs are the team that ended their season after the Ravens earned the No. 1 seed with the AFC’s best record in 2023. And now they are the team that delivered a big L and some teaching moments to start the new year.
Jackson, who did on Thursday night what he didn’t do in the AFC title game – running out of danger when coverage and pressure dictated, to the tune of a game-high 122 yards – doesn’t need to subscribe to the Superman narrative. But until the Ravens prove they can beat Mahomes and the Chiefs, those Super Bowl visions will be a mirage.
‘We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to win these games,’ Jackson said.
Easier said than done.
And even though the Chiefs sweated the finish, they demonstrated why they could wind up as more dangerous this time around.
Worthy, the rookie receiver who was drafted by the Chiefs in the first round weeks after he posted the fastest 40-yard dash time ever at the combine (4.21 seconds), scored the first time he touched the football in his NFL debut. He took off on an end-around, getting the ball on a flip from Mahomes and then turning the corner for a 21-yard touchdown.
During the preseason, Worthy fumbled on a similar play. But practice apparently makes perfect. He predicted as much to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy during a Thursday morning walk-through session.
‘I told Coach Nagy, ‘I think this play is going to score,’ ‘ Worthy said. ‘And it happened. So, it’s amazing for my first touchdown in the NFL.’
Worthy didn’t post monster numbers (2 catches, 47 yards and a TD), but his mere presence – as in that lightning speed – helped open up windows elsewhere. Rashee Rice – yeah, the reckless driver facing eight felony counts for his role in a high-speed collision on a Dallas freeway in late March – tallied the bulk of his seven catches for 103 yards on slants and crossing routes underneath than enabled him to rack up significant yards after the catch. Mahomes, by the way, finished 20-of-28 passing for 291 yards, with the TD and a pick.
Then again, it wasn’t just the explosive plays that left a mark. The Chiefs showed plenty of grit, led by the incomparable Mahomes.
A prime illustration of this came early in the third quarter as Mahomes lowered a shoulder and crashed into the pile that pushed Isiah Pacheco into the end zone for a 1-yard TD that capped an 81-yard drive.
Mahomes did what?
He said the offense was struggling in the red zone and needed a touchdown. So, he said, ‘I put my body on the line.’
Talk about nerve-wracking. It was a case similar to a play against the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 that included a lineman crashing into Mahomes, which drew a rebuke from coach Andy Reid for unneeded risk.
‘Coach Reid told me to never do it again,’ Mahomes said. ‘Luckily we scored (this time) and I didn’t get hit by anybody else. So, he’ll probably tell me to never do it again, again.’
It worked out on a night when the Chiefs caught a whale of a break…and took the Ravens back to school.
What might the Chiefs have learned about themselves?
‘Nothing that I didn’t already know,’ star defensive tackle Chris Jones maintained. ‘That we’re greedy. We’re always fighting.’
Necessary ingredients to chase a three-peat.