Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
vs. 
Baltimore Ravens (0-0) vs. Kansas City Chiefs (0-0)
Thursday September 4th
8:20pm
NBC / Amazon Prime
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City Chiefs -3 (-105)
Over/Under 46 (-110)
What We’re Watching
In what has become a bit of a modern day AFC rivalry, the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs open the 2024 NFL season on Thursday with sights set on a trip to the Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. After a dominant regular season, the Ravens fell flat once again the playoffs, while the Chiefs managed to get hot at the right time and found their way to a second straight Super Bowl victory. Will the Chiefs be able to make it to, and win a third straight Lombardi Trophy, or can the Ravens get off to another fast start and win what could be an important game in the standings at the end of the regular season?
The Ravens offense will look a little different in 2024, mainly because of their addition of perennial Pro Bowl running back and stiff-arm specialist, Derrick Henry. The former Titans runner could see a lot of action in his debut with the Ravens as Baltimore would like to try to wear down the Chiefs defense, and in the absence of backup running back Keaton Mitchell. We’ll see how effective Henry can be behind a Ravens offensive line that lost a pair of starters from a season ago, and looks a little shaky on paper. Of course that didn’t seem to stop Henry much the last couple of years in Tennessee. Lamar Jackson will be in the spotlight, and will have to be his normal dynamic self in what will be a very loud Arrowhead Stadium against a very good Kansas City defense. Because the world knows about Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, it’s sometimes not known this Chiefs defense actually finished as the number two overall unit a season ago. The Chiefs did lose star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, however they return most of their key players from their championship team. It will be worth watching to see if a secondary type receiver like Rashod Bateman or Nelson Agholor can make some plays opposite of Chiefs corner Trent McDuffie. Expect a bit of a “soft” contain type defense from Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo early in the game, with some potential heated blitzes in the second half if the situation merits.
Things are also switched up a bit for the offense of Kansas City as they’ll begin the season with some new contributors across the starting eleven. Most notably, second round pick Kingsley Suamataia will now be tasked with protecting the blind side of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs are high on the young left tackle, although an opening night assignment against the Ravens defense is probably not the most ideal way to break things in easily. At least playing at home should help with the crowd noise and communication along the line. Expect some short and quick passes early on from Mahomes and the Chiefs to evaluate how things are looking, and to get their entire offense comfortable. That offense most likely will not have new addition Marquise Brown just yet, but they will have another rookie in Xavier Worthy as an option down the field. In case you didn’t follow the combine or draft, all Worthy did was run the fastest 40 yard dash time in the history of the event. The Ravens are not nearly as deep in their secondary or at the cornerback position as they’ve been in recent seasons, so it’s not impossible that Worthy could make a splash play in his first game. The two players to really watch though will be of course tight end Travis Kelce, and wide receiver Rashee Rice. Their familiarity with Mahomes should make them repetitive targets early in the season. The Ravens are pretty stout in the middle of their defense, but the Chiefs are committed to making Isaiah Pacheco a more featured back as he enters his prime in the league. It will be interesting to see who gets the passing down snaps between Pacheco, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and new teammate Samaje Perine. Chances are, despite the talk of Pacheco being a workhorse, we may see all three to some extent on Thursday and throughout the season.
Key Trends and Indicators
The Chiefs finished the 2023 season 6-0 ATS and 6-0 straight up
The Ravens are 1-5 straight up in their last 6 games vs. the Chiefs
The total has gone under in 8 of the last 9 home games for the Chiefs
The total has gone under in 5 of the last 7 games overall for the Chiefs
BetCrushers Take:
The energy will be evident from before kickoff into the first quarter as everyone will be amped up for the return of the NFL . Eventually, this game is going to come down to both the X’s and O’s, and the players on the field. Both teams have some trends that would favor them, although most trends can realistically be wiped clean to begin a new season. In the 2024 season, we’re pretty high like most on the Chiefs to yet again be in the mix for another Super Bowl appearance. We’re not so sure about the Ravens though, as this team which has consistently had good depth appears to be really thin after their starters, and even at a few positions in the starting lineup. Despite this, these are two teams with good players and good coaches who will be prepared and looking to show out on the big stage. We already know which team tends to play better under the bright lights, and that will likely continue in the kickoff contest. The question is, can the Ravens keep this game close? We’re guessing they can, however our bet is going with the total instead. When these teams played last season, it was really a defensive battle. If these teams play the first rounds early trading some jabs, this game should stay under the total. You can check out what we’re officially playing below, as well as the other thoughts we have for this game. Best of luck to everyone this year!
Predicted Score: Kansas City Chiefs 23, Baltimore Ravens 20
