KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Patrick Mahomes thought for a moment that the Chiefs were headed to overtime. So did Ravens counterpart Lamar Jackson, who had found Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone with no time left for a touchdown that appeared to tie the game.
In the end, the NFL's season opener Thursday night was decided by referee Shawn Hochuli undertaking a video review.
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With a capacity crowd that included pop superstar Taylor Swift waiting in anticipation, Hochuli needed just seconds looking at that final play before making his announcement: Likely landed with his toe on the endline, putting the Baltimore tight end out of bounds, and giving the Chiefs a 27-20 victory as they began pursuit of a record third consecutive Super Bowl title.
“Definitely nerve-wracking because it looked good from my angle on the sideline," Mahomes said, “but then the first view you could see his cleat. ... You have to wear white cleats next time. That's my advice for him.”
Mahomes threw for 291 yards and with a touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy, who also scored a rushing TD in his NFL debut, as the Chiefs not only won the rematch of last season’s AFC title game but beat the Ravens for the fifth time in six meetings.
That lopsided ledger has been especially frustrating for Jackson, who has called Kansas City the Ravens’ “kryptonite.” He was sublime Thursday night, throwing for 273 yards and a touchdown and adding 122 yards on the ground, but that review of the final play left him to rue another missed opportunity to finally upstage Mahomes and Co.
“I thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Still think it was a touchdown.”
The Ravens were trailing 27-17 in the fourth quarter before kicking a field goal, then got the ball back at their own 13 with 1:50 left and no timeouts. Jackson completed a couple of throws to Likely, who had 111 yards receiving and a score, and scrambled for a crucial first down. Two plays later, Jackson found Rashod Bateman down the sideline for 38 yards to move the Ravens to the Kansas City 10 with 19 seconds remaining.
Jackson’s first pass was a throwaway, but his second missed wide-open Zay Flowers in the back of the end zone. Then came the final throw, after Jackson had scrambled for what seemed like an eternity, and Likely looked like he had forced overtime.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh even signaled for his team to try a winning 2-point conversion, though it never got the chance.
“I thought our guys (overcame) setbacks at times, and fought like crazy to overcome. It looked like we had an opportunity there to tie the game up and try to win,” Harbaugh said. “Didn’t happen at the end, but our guys fought.”
The wild ending came after the start was delayed about 20 minutes by a storm that brought heavy rain and lightning.
The Ravens proceeded to open with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Derrick Henry, who had tormented the Chiefs in six previous meetings while he was with Tennessee, plunging into the end zone from 5 yards out for the early lead.
But the high-octane Chiefs, trying to avoid back-to-back season-opening losses, needed just two minutes to answer. Mahomes twice connected with Rashee Rice, who has so far avoided any NFL punishment for his role in an alleged street-racing crash in Dallas, before Worthy showed why the Chiefs made him their first-round pick with his 21-yard touchdown run.
After those two drives, though, the first half was mostly marked by Week 1 blunders.
Jackson was strip-sacked by Chris Jones deep in his own territory, leading to a Kansas City field goal. Flowers was stopped short of the first-down marker on fourth-and-3 near midfield on the Ravens’ next series, leading to another field goal. And even Justin Tucker, one of the league’s most accurate kickers, pulled a 53-yard field-goal attempt wide left.
The Chiefs were not immune to mistakes. Mahomes' pass was picked off by Roquan Smith on a poor throw late in the first half, leading to a chip-shot field goal that got Baltimore — which trailed twice at halftime all of last season — to 13-10 at the break.
Yet the Ravens’ inability to get into the end zone, and swing the momentum their way, ultimately proved costly.
The Chiefs opened the second half with an 81-yard touchdown march to extend their lead. Then, after Jackson had connected with Likely on a broken play for a 49-yard touchdown throw, Mahomes drove them 70 yards against the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL last season for a touchdown that made it 27-17 with 10 minutes to go.
Tucker made it a one-score game with his field goal with 4:54 to go, and Baltimore quickly forced a punt. But despite Jackson’s impassioned play, he was left to trudge off the field after another disappointing loss to the Chiefs.
“It was a fight down to the end,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “When they say it's a game of inches, might be shorter than that.”
Star-studded crowd
Swift, the girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, wasn’t the only star attending the NFL’s opening night. Quincy Hall, the Olympic 400-meter champion, was in the crowd along with AC Milan midfielder Christian Pulisic, who will join his U.S. teammates Saturday night for an exhibition against Canada at nearby Children’s Mercy Park.
Injuries
Baltimore: LB Kyle Van Noy left six plays into the second half because of an eye injury and did not return.
Up next
Ravens: Host Las Vegas on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Chiefs: Host Cincinnati on Sunday, Sept. 15.
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