That’s because of the highly detailed and accurate data teams get from tracking chips in each player’s shoulder pads called radio-frequency identification tags, or RFID.

“We have the tracking data from that game,” Harbaugh said, referencing Baltimore’s 27-20 loss to the Chiefs. “We know exactly where the Chiefs tackles were lined up and exactly where ours were lined up.”

The veteran coach was terse about specific findings. But the discourse is unambiguous, he said, because of the data available. So they’ll have a sense of whether officiating crews call it consistently as the season progresses.

Three of the Ravens’ five illegal formation penalties, including two on the opening drive, came against left tackle Ronnie Stanley. Stanley said after the game that he felt targeted by the officials and that his presnap alignment followed what he was told by offseason referees.

An illegal formation is called when a player’s helmet isn’t aligned with the waist of the center. It’s advantageous for a lineman in pass protection to be lined up further back behind the line of scrimmage. Stanley said Thursday night that he was confident his head was “breaking the center’s butt.”

“I thought Ronnie was in reasonable position almost all the time,” Harbaugh said. “I do think the adjustment that needs to be made, is during the course of the drive, if it’s something that you didn’t expect and it’s totally different than they’re calling the games, you gotta make the drastic adjustment right away and then we’ll talk about it later. Ronnie actually thought he was doing that. When you watch the tape, I think what he says bears out.”

Illegal formation penalties aside, Harbaugh said the offensive line  — which has been a hot topic through the preseason as they replaced three starters from last year — set a “pretty darn good baseline,” particularly in the deafening conditions of Arrowhead Stadium against a formidable Chiefs defensive front.

Similar to the slew of early penalties, Harbaugh isn’t worried about his offensive line.

“I know how hard they work and I know how talented they are and I watch all the other offensive lines in the National Football League,” he said. “I think if you applied some of the same standards to the other offensive lines out there, you’d be like, ‘Oh, boy.'”

Against Kansas City, the Ravens ran for 185 yards on 32 carries. Half of those were by quarterback Lamar Jackson, who finished with 122 rushing yards; Derrick Henry added 46 on 13 carries. The Chiefs combined for one sack and one quarterback hit. For reference, Kansas City totaled four sacks and seven quarterback hits in the AFC championship game in Baltimore in January.

“Our offensive line is going to be really good this year,” Harbaugh said. “I believe that. And we’re working hard toward that.”

“We had a number of guys who weren’t out there,” Harbaugh said following a 90-minute practice in Owings Mills. “Some personal, some more physical. Injury report comes out Wednesday afternoon, so you’ll be better advised on that day regarding all those guys.”

No absence was more notable than Jackson’s, however.

In the Ravens’ 27-20 loss to Kansas City, the two-time and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player completed 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown and led the team in rushing with 122 yards on 16 carries. He was also strip-sacked and took several hits, though he did not appear to be injured while speaking to reporters following the game.

“This guy wants to win, he wants to make plays, he wants to lead his team; that’s what I saw on Thursday night,” Harbaugh said Monday. “And all the football stuff, we just keep coaching, and he’s the leader in that. But I’m proud of him. I have nothing but admiration for Lamar Jackson.”

Jackson’s absence marks the first time he has not been at practice since the start of training camp, when he missed the first week with an undisclosed illness.

It was also his first missed practice during the regular season since early December when he was out for one day, also because of an illness. He was, however, present at Baltimore’s team picture day earlier Thursday, according to a social media post from the team.

He was active on X as well, responding to a post about 30 minutes after practice had concluded.

As for Jackson’s activity against the Chiefs, he was all over the field, accounting for 395 of Baltimore’s 452 total yards. That included a dozen scrambles — or on 19.5% of his dropbacks for his third-highest rate in the past four seasons, according to Next Gen Stats.

He also drove the Ravens 77 yards in the final 1:50 and on the game’s final play hit Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone from 10 yards out for what was initially ruled a touchdown before the call was overturned following a replay that showed the tight end’s toe coming down out of bounds on the catch.

“Our offense has a lot of new additions, and we’re just getting adjusted,” Jackson said following the game. “I don’t want to say [not playing in] preseason was the reason because it wasn’t; we battled. You can see it; we put points on the board. We just have to do what we have to do to win those games. [It’s] simple.

“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. 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.”

Meanwhile, cornerback Nate Wiggins, wide receiver-returner Deonte Harty, outside linebacker Adisa Isaac (hamstring) and outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who suffered a fractured orbital bone in the loss, according to NFL Network, were also absent from practice. Harbaugh declined to confirm Van Noy’s injury and instead deferred to the injury report that will come out on Wednesday.

Baltimore will play its home opener Sunday afternoon against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Coach John Harbaugh, meanwhile, said having Henry would be a “wonderful thing” and that he was looking forward to it. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken added that he was “excited” to see the impact Henry would have “come to fruition.”

After Thursday night’s 27-20 season-opening loss to the Chiefs in Kansas City, it is also something else: to be determined.

Seven months removed from Ravens running backs inexplicably totaling just six carries against in last season’s AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium, the rematch with the Chiefs was not much different. Henry toted the ball 13 times — including five on Baltimore’s opening drive and just five in the second half — for 46 yards and a touchdown, with Justice Hill getting the lone other carry by a running back.

Of course, much like the last time the two teams met, Baltimore was behind for most of the game (including trailing by 10 twice in the second half) thus perhaps limiting Henry’s and the running backs’ usage. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was also Baltimore’s most potent runner, with 122 yards on just 16 carries, though only seven of those appeared to be by design as he routinely ad-libbed his way through the Chiefs’ defense.

Still, despite facing a team that last season ranked 15th in rushing yards allowed per game (113.2) and was fourth-worst in yards per attempt allowed (4.5), Henry’s impact in his first game as a Raven after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans was relatively minimal.

Why? Myriad reasons.

Some of Henry’s struggles to break loose could be pinned on an offensive line in transition with three new starters.

Guards Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees struggled at times and thus were rated poorly by Pro Football Focus with run-blocking grades of 55 and 51, respectively. Veteran tackle Patrick Mekari and rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten graded even worse at 53.2 and 48.2, respectively.

If there was a bright spot up front, it came unsurprisingly from Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and former All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley, both of whom graded well on run and pass blocks. But that wasn’t enough.

Henry’s longest run on Thursday was just 9 yards — courtesy of a rare Faalele pancake of his defender and Linderbaum sealing his man — as he bounced outside on a second-and-4 with just over 5 minutes left in the second quarter to help lead to an eventual field goal try by Justin Tucker (that he missed from 53 yards). And in the second half — a time of the game when Henry’s hulking 6-foot-2, 247-pound frame can wear opponents down — he had just five carries for 13 yards to finish the game with a per-carry average of just 3.54 yards.

It was also that lack of use that played a part in the ho-hum performance.

Henry was on the field for just 37 snaps — 46% of the offensive plays. He did not see the field on Baltimore’s final drive.

With only one timeout because they used two early in the second half, the Ravens ran the ball only twice over their final 11 plays, both scrambles by Jackson.

No matter the situation, it was a big departure from years past. Henry had logged the fifth-most snaps among running backs since entering the league in 2016. And in four of the past five seasons, he was on the field for at least 64% of the Titans’ snaps.

What about how the Ravens deployed their newest offensive playmaker?

In coming from an offense in Tennessee that largely operated with its quarterback under center to one that functions regularly out of the pistol or shotgun, there was some concern about how Jackson and Henry would mesh. As a back who has traditionally built up speed before even taking a handoff and then reaching full flight on the second level of the defense, it was and perhaps remains a concern. How big remains to be seen.

According to Next Gen Stats, Henry’s efficiency — the total distance a player travels on rushing plays as a ball carrier per rushing yards gained — of 4.01 on Thursday night would have ranked him 32nd among qualifying backs last season.

And while Henry was utilized about equally in zone scheme and gap scheme runs, and fairly evenly in terms of play direction, he typically did his best work from 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends, two receivers) and rarely found success when Jackson wasn’t under center. He also had just one receiving target out of the backfield, which fell incomplete.

The Chiefs often schemed to eliminate Henry as well using eight or more defenders in the box nearly 40% of the time, per Next Gen Stats, an uptick of just over 3% from what he saw last season with Tennessee.

History is also not on Henry’s side at this point in his career. Over the past decade, only three backs have had 1,000-yard seasons at age 30 or older (Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore and Raheem Mostert), and he topped 100 yards in a game just four times last year.

But beneath the surface, there is reason for optimism.

Of Henry’s 46 yards on Thursday, 33 of them came after contact, and his yards per carry after contact (2.54) would have ranked in the top 10 in the NFL last season, proving that he is still difficult to bring down once he gets going. His rushing yards over expected (0.33), per Next Gen Stats, were on par with last season’s (0.31), too.

And Henry’s 2.8 seconds behind the line of scrimmage — the amount of time a back spends before crossing the line of scrimmage as the ball carrier — was identical to last season’s mark, showing that he hasn’t slowed down just yet.

It’s only one game, so the sample size is minuscule.

As for his own assessment?

“[There are a] couple runs I’d probably want back and do different,” Henry said. “One game doesn’t define the whole season. We’ve got plenty more to go play.”

The host Kansas City Chiefs’ thrilling 27-20 win over the Ravens on Thursday night was the most-watched NFL kickoff game ever, according to NBC, averaging 28.9 million viewers. It’s a 5% increase over last year’s 27.5 million viewers for the Detroit Lions vs. Chiefs opener.

Despite a roughly 20-minute delay because of thunderstorms that forced players to leave the field and fans to take shelter in the concourse at Arrowhead Stadium, Thursday night’s game peaked at 33 million viewers in the second quarter (between 9:30-9:45 p.m. ET). NBC said the viewership numbers are based on live plus same-day custom fast nationals from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Unsurprisingly, Kansas City was the top local market with a 43.4 local rating and 80 share, which means that 80% of all televisions in use in Kansas City were tuned in to the game. Baltimore had the second-highest local viewership with a 24.5 rating and 60 share, followed by Denver; St. Louis; Norfolk, Virginia; Cincinnati; and Pittsburgh.

The game registered a national TV household rating of 12.6/37. The 37 share is NBC’s largest for any regular-season game since debuting the “Sunday Night Football” package in 2006. The Thursday night season opener, traditionally hosted by the defending Super Bowl champions, dates to 2002.

NBC said it drew 4.6 million viewers on its digital platforms, including the live stream on Peacock, up 65% from last year’s season opener.

The NFL has been a dominant draw, recording 14 of the top 15 most-watched prime-time telecasts in 2023. The Chiefs’ playoff win over the host Ravens in January was the most-watched AFC championship game ever, averaging 55.47 million viewers and peaking at more than 64 million viewers. According to Sportico, Thursday’s game was the 17th-most-watched U.S. broadcast of 2024 and is currently the year’s 12th-biggest NFL telecast.

Green Bay Packers vs. Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil (Friday, 8:15 p.m.)

Brian Wacker: Eagles

Childs Walker: Packers

Mike Preston: Eagles

C.J. Doon: Packers

Tim Schwartz: Packers

Bennett Conlin: Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Falcons

Walker: Falcons

Preston: Steelers

Doon: Falcons

Schwartz: Falcons

Conlin: Falcons

Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Bills (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Bills

Walker: Bills

Preston: Bills

Doon: Bills

Schwartz: Bills

Conlin: Bills

Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Bears

Walker: Bears

Preston: Bears

Doon: Bears

Schwartz: Bears

Conlin: Titans

New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Bengals

Walker: Bengals

Preston: Bengals

Doon: Bengals

Schwartz: Bengals

Conlin: Bengals

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Texans

Walker: Texans

Preston: Colts

Doon: Texans

Schwartz: Texans

Conlin: Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars at Miami Dolphins (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Dolphins

Walker: Jaguars

Preston: Dolphins

Doon: Dolphins

Schwartz: Dolphins

Conlin: Dolphins

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Saints

Walker: Saints

Preston: Saints

Doon: Saints

Schwartz: Saints

Conlin: Saints

Minnesota Vikings at New York Giants (Sunday, 1 p.m.)

Wacker: Giants

Walker: Giants

Preston: Vikings

Doon: Vikings

Schwartz: Vikings

Conlin: Vikings

Las Vegas Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers (Sunday, 4:05 p.m.)

Wacker: Chargers

Walker: Chargers

Preston: Chargers

Doon: Raiders

Schwartz: Chargers

Conlin: Chargers

Denver Broncos at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 4:05 p.m.)

Wacker: Seahawks

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Schwartz: Seahawks

Conlin: Seahawks

Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)

Wacker: Cowboys

Walker: Cowboys

Preston: Cowboys

Doon: Cowboys

Schwartz: Cowboys

Conlin: Cowboys

Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)

Wacker: Buccaneers

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Preston: Buccaneers

Doon: Commanders

Schwartz: Commanders

Conlin: Buccaneers

Los Angeles Rams at Detroit Lions (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)

Wacker: Lions

Walker: Rams

Preston: Lions

Doon: Lions

Schwartz: Lions

Conlin: Rams

New York Jets at San Francisco 49ers (Monday, 8:15 p.m.)

Wacker: 49ers

Walker: Jets

Preston: 49ers

Doon: Jets

Schwartz: Jets

Conlin: 49ers

The Ravens need to get more out of their playmakers on both offense and defense to go deep into the postseason. Kansas City will, which is why the Chiefs have won the past two Super Bowl titles and could be the first team in league history to three-peat.

But can the Ravens challenge them?

You try never to put too much importance in the first game because it’s really like a fourth preseason contest, and there are 16 more remaining in the regular season. If the Ravens had won, the entire city of Baltimore would be going crazy Friday morning. But with another loss to Kansas City, you wonder whether the Ravens are going to break this stranglehold now that quarterback Lamar Jackson is 1-5 versus Kansas City.

The Chiefs have four Super Bowl titles, winning in 1969, 2019, 2022 and 2023. They also have Patrick Mahomes, who might be the best quarterback ever and is being compared with the G.O.A.T., Tom Brady. The Chiefs also have coach Andy Reid and his 26-16 postseason record.

Granted, Kansas City will get better, as it did at the end of last season, but where does that leave Baltimore? The Ravens play with a lot of heart and gritty determination, but that might not be good enough in 2024. In all honesty, maybe this season really is a year of minor rebuilding, especially on the interior lines.

“It didn’t happen at the end, but [I’m] proud of the way the guys fought,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We’re only going to get better from here on out, and I’m looking forward to that. We’re looking forward to getting back to work next week and getting ready for the Raiders.”

There is that tough talk again.

It would have been an upset for the Ravens to have won here Thursday night. Arrowhead was buzzing as the Chiefs put up another championship banner, and this stadium was already recognized as the loudest in the NFL. The Ravens came within a toe of possibly pulling off the win as tight end Isaiah Likely’s foot touched the back line of the end zone on the last play of regulation, but that wasn’t good enough.

It never is versus Kansas City, and it wasn’t last year when the Chiefs beat the Ravens, 17-10, in the AFC title game in Baltimore. In the psyche of Baltimore fans, there has to be some serious doubt about whether the Ravens can overtake the Chiefs.

It’s no longer about the AFC North and whether the Ravens can win the division over Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Cincinnati. The road to the championship goes through Kansas City.

It really is that simple.

Ravens vs. Chiefs, September 5, 2024 | PHOTOS

“We were able to put ourselves in a position to be able to have a chance to win the game, even [when] things weren’t happening in the game — as far as on our side of the ball,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said. “There are a lot of things we can learn from and a lot of things we can continue to build on, so that’s what you want to do as a team — learn from the mistakes and hit on the positives.”

As the game unfolded, Kansas City stayed true to its system, especially with an offense that is built around Mahomes, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and finished with a passer rating of 101.9.

As for the Ravens, they continue to have a helter-skelter offense. Their best play, despite coordinator Todd Monken being in his second season, is still Jackson running around and making something out of nothing. That’s great to a point, but that doesn’t win championships, either.

Jackson was outstanding, rushing 16 times for 122 yards and completing 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards, including an electrifying scramble and 49-yard touchdown pass to Likely early in the fourth quarter. But he missed three possible touchdown passes throughout the game.

Mahomes makes those kinds of plays, but Jackson doesn’t, especially in big games. Kansas City’s offensive game plan, besides Mahomes, revolves around running back Isiah Pacheco, receiver Rashee Rice and tight end Travis Kelce.

The Ravens featured Jackson and slot receiver Zay Flowers, but most of the other weapons — Likely, fellow tight end Mark Andrews, and receivers Nelson Agholor and Rashod Bateman — were ignored until the second half.

Did the Ravens practice throughout training camp? What happened to Henry, who had only 13 carries for 46 yards? Granted, the Ravens were playing without three starters on the offensive line from a year ago, but why didn’t they move Jackson around more in the pocket instead of allowing him to be pressured up the middle as guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalale were beaten consistently?

“I definitely won a lot of matchups today; a lot of us did,” Bateman said. “We just have to find ways to execute and get the ball to the playmakers — whatever that looks like.”

Defensively, the Ravens looked lost at times, especially in coverage in the flat where outside linebackers were matched up with running backs. The pass rush was solid, but far from spectacular. Of course, this was Mahomes, who is almost as elusive as Jackson, but the Ravens need to get more out of outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo.

There were a lot of missed tackles, even some by All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. Over on the other sideline, Kansas City is coached by longtime defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the Ravens are being led by first-year coordinator Zach Orr.

“We just had some issues with the substitutions back and forth,” Harbaugh said. “They were running different groups on the field and stuff like that. We did have some communication problems. That’s something that we’ll have to iron out for sure. We can be better with that; we will be better with that. [It] wasn’t what we wanted, so we’ll have to improve on that, and we will.”

This isn’t a picture of gloom and doom after one game, but there seems to be a pattern here. The Ravens’ clock management was poor throughout the game and Harbaugh made another poor decision while gambling on a fourth-and-3 at midfield early in the second quarter. We’ve seen that backfire many times throughout his tenure in Baltimore, and it eventually cost the Ravens a field goal, which was a big turning point.

Again, it’s only one game, but this is the same old Ravens team we’ve seen melt down in the postseason. There is ample time to get better, but not a lot. In the second half of the season, the Ravens face stretches in which they play three games in 14 days and then another three in 10.

After watching this team throughout training camp and in the preseason, there were higher expectations than what was on display Thursday night. Unless Jackson puts this team on his back again as he did last season, when he won his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award, the Ravens need to find a different mojo, especially on defense.

It’s great to show heart and be competitive, but that alone doesn’t win championships, especially in Kansas City.

Here are five things we learned from a thrilling rematch of last year’s AFC championship game:

The Ravens remain the little brother in the AFC’s top rivalry — but only by a little

Finally, Lamar Jackson had his chance to one-up Patrick Mahomes, the current standard by which quarterback greatness is measured.

Mahomes had seemingly thrown the game’s decisive pass earlier in the fourth quarter when he took advantage of a blown coverage to put the Chiefs up 27-17. But Jackson had rallied the Ravens, leading one scoring drive with legs that never stopped whirring and then carrying his team to the cusp of a tying or winning touchdown.

On first down, Jackson saw Likely flash open in the corner of the end zone but overshot him badly enough that Likely crashed awkwardly to the ground, clutching his side in agony. On second down, Jackson bought enough time to see wide receiver Zay Flowers uncovered in the middle of the end zone but instead fired wide of a well-covered Rashod Bateman. On his third and final shot, he again went high to Likely, who caught the ball but landed with the tip of his toe brushing the white of the back line.

By that tiniest of margins, Jackson and the Ravens fell short — for the fifth time in six tries — of potentially besting the one AFC power they cannot conquer.

Does that mean they never will? Or did the Ravens give us reason to believe they could turn the tide if these foes meet again in January, with higher stakes at play?

No player will have more to say about that than Jackson, and he did not play as tentatively Thursday as he had in the 17-10 playoff loss eight months earlier. With the slimmer physique he chiseled over a long offseason, the game’s greatest running quarterback sprinted and spun his way to 122 rushing yards. He improvised brilliant throws in the clutch before his radar failed him on those last three. The reigning NFL Most Valuable Player was imperfect but undeniably brilliant. Brilliant enough to beat Mahomes with everything on the line? Well, that’s the steepest mountain for anyone in the NFL to scale, and Jackson still has to prove he can do it.

Elsewhere, we saw plenty of reasons for concern and plenty for excitement as we contemplate the path ahead for the 2024 Ravens.

Likely’s emergence and Bateman’s bounding 38-yard catch to set up the last touchdown shot demonstrated that Jackson really can look beyond Flowers and Mark Andrews in tight spots. The Ravens did not abandon the run this time around, rolling up 185 yards (to 72 for Kansas City) on 32 attempts.

On the other hand, the league’s top scoring defense from last season looked discombobulated in coverage — a death knell against the great Mahomes. The Ravens’ lightly tested offensive line did not give Jackson enough time to work in the first half and hamstrung him with penalty after penalty.

In the end, the Chiefs undercut themselves a little less and retained the upper hand over one of the few teams with the talent to upend their quest for a Super Bowl repeat.

Even if the Ravens had won, we would have said their defining test will not come until January. The same is true after a sloppy, spirited loss. The Chiefs remain their target, and they have five months to take the necessary strides.

The Ravens’ big offensive line risk looks … risky

We spent the past four months debating general manager Eric DeCosta’s grand gamble — three starting offensive linemen out, including stalwarts Kevin Zeitler and Morgan Moses, replaced by players with precious little experience.

DeCosta recently called the overhaul a necessary response to salary cap constraints created by Jackson’s five-year, $260 million extension, but he and Harbaugh both acknowledged the growing pains we might see early this season.

Kansas City’s All-Pro defensive tackle, Chris Jones, made sure we did not have to wait.

Jones beat Daniel Faalele, starting at the right guard position he just began learning in the spring, to pressure Jackson on the Ravens’ first drive.

On the first drive of the second quarter, Jones tossed rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten aside and fired past Faalele to strip Jackson, handing Mahomes a short field.

Jackson could not look downfield, because he rarely had more than two seconds before a red jersey invaded his personal space.

When the Ravens got moving late in the third quarter, a hold by Tyler Linderbaum on Jones wiped out a 29-yard run by Jackson that would have put them on the Kansas City 13-yard line.

Jones wasn’t the Ravens’ only enemy. They struggled just as acutely with game officials intent on keeping blockers from cheating a step behind the line of scrimmage.

Tackles Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Mekari were called for lining up in the backfield three times on the game’s first drive. The last of those wiped out a long pass interference penalty. Stanley was flagged for illegal formation again with the Ravens driving late in the second quarter.

Coach John Harbaugh’s exasperated countenance spoke to the fact that this new rules emphasis seemed to flow only one way. Stanley said he felt the officials were trying to make an example of him.

“I’m looking at [Kansas City’s] tackles, especially the right side, and I know I’m lining up in front of that guy,” he said. “And they didn’t call him one time. It’s a little bit of making me feel like I’m crazy, [that] I don’t know where I’m lining up.”

With a week of focused practice, the Ravens will probably wipe out most of these alignment penalties. Their struggles against elite pass rushers won’t be as easy to ameliorate. Rosengarten, Faalele and left guard Andrew Vorhees will operate at deficits of power, explosiveness and experience, and even if they grow into dependable starters, it might not happen soon.

This was the risk DeCosta embraced in designing his roster, and we’re seeing the short-term price.

Coordinator Zach Orr’s defense also debuted sloppily

Marlon Humphrey put up little resistance as the fastest player on the field sprinted by him. He appeared to think a safety would pick up rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. That safety never appeared, and Mahomes floated an easy touchdown pass to extend Kansas City’s lead to 10 in the fourth quarter.

It was the worst possible moment for a communication breakdown from Orr’s defense and a reminder that it too will be a work in progress despite the All-Pros at every level.

“Obviously, we just didn’t play the defense the right way; there was nobody deep back there,” Harbaugh said. “We had certain mistakes during the game that were a problem. Substitutions were an issue. [Worthy’s touchdown] was probably the one big mistake we had. The rest of the way, I thought our defense played really well.”

Mahomes feasted on single-high coverage, completing 12 of 14 for 151 yards — his best efficiency against the alignment since 2021, per Next Gen Stats. The Ravens did not adjust sufficiently as the game went on.

Patrick Mahomes was most effective as a passer against the Ravens defense in single-high coverages.

Mahomes finished 12 of 14 for 151 yards (+13.8% CPOE) against single-high coverages, his highest CPOE mark against single-high since Week 17, 2021.

Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/xw9AcKhHWi

— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 6, 2024

“We did have some communication problems,” Harbaugh said. “That’s something that we’ll have to iron out for sure.”

We tend to speak of last year’s AFC championship loss as an all-points Ravens failure, but that’s not accurate. Coordinator Mike Macdonald’s defense stood tall, holding the Chiefs to 4.4 yards per play (down from 5.5 in the regular season) and shutting them out in the second half. If anything, the performance was a final feather in Macdonald’s cap before he departed to coach the Seattle Seahawks.

The corresponding elevation of Macdonald’s close friend and protege, Orr, drew huzzahs from Ravens players and fans alike. Macdonald, who hoped to lure Orr to his Seattle staff, said his former linebackers coach is destined to run his own team because “he’s that special of a guy.”

All that optimism aside, what a pressure cooker the 32-year-old Orr stepped into — a prime-time rematch against the two-time defending Super Bowl champions, led by the best quarterback in the world. And fans would expect him to live up to the standard set by one of the most lauded young defensive minds in the sport. Never mind that Macdonald suffered growing pains — recall that blown 35-14 lead against the Miami Dolphins — in his early days as the team’s coordinator in 2022.

Orr’s defense started sluggishly Thursday night, with Mahomes and wide receiver Rashee Rice carving up linebackers Roquan Smith and Trenton Simpson on a brisk 67-yard touchdown drive.

But the Ravens held fast for the remainder of the first half, defending short fields with aggressive coverage and pressure from two of their top breakout candidates.

David Ojabo unleashed a scream of pure release after he whipped around the outside shoulder of rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamatai to wrap up Mahomes for a 10-yard loss on the last play of the first quarter.

Third-year defensive tackle Travis Jones powered through the heart of Kansas City’s line late in the second quarter, hurrying Mahomes into a rare misfire that landed in Smith’s arms.

Simpson, another rising young starter, leaped to knock down a pass by Mahomes late in the fourth quarter, giving Jackson his shot at that final drive.

Their impact plays were overshadowed by the lapses, but we should not ignore the promise of Orr’s defense.

“This is the worst we’ll play all season,” Smith, their on-field leader, said. “I’ll promise you that.”

Isaiah Likely might already be Lamar Jackson’s most potent target

Likely established himself as a rising star last year when he stepped in for an injured Andrews and became the Ravens’ top touchdown threat during their best stretch of the season. He was nearly impossible to cover throughout training camp, running past bigger defenders and overpowering smaller ones.

One question lingered: Could he share a field with Andrews and not get lost in the shadow of Jackson’s career-long favorite target?

Likely answered resoundingly with a career-best performance in Kansas City. His 49-yard touchdown catch at the start of the fourth quarter, on which he outran or outmaneuvered half the defense, breathed new life into the Ravens. He was Jackson’s go-to target along the sideline in the two-minute drill. He did everything but touch his toe perfectly on the last grab that could have won the game. That despite the hard crash he endured two plays earlier.

LIKELY A TOUCHDOWN@DaGorilla4 | Tune in on NBC! pic.twitter.com/LJ1DdZjpYf

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 6, 2024

He even flattened Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis to spring Jackson for a 13-yard gain.

“Isaiah played just a great football game, [the] craziest game,” Harbaugh said. “[He made] so many plays, especially down the stretch, play after play.”

There’s no taking Likely out of the game plan at this point (he played 52 snaps to Andrews’ 58). He’s too adept at getting open, too dynamic a downfield and red-zone threat. If Jackson had been a little more precise, he might have approached 170 yards instead of the 111 he put up on 12 targets. We call him a tight end, but he’s really a giant wide receiver, just like his biggest fans said after the Ravens stole him in the fourth round of the 2022 draft out of Coastal Carolina.

Jackson recognized this from the start, treating Likely as a guy who would matter a whole lot even before his production caught up.

We saw an early glimpse of the problems posed by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry

Jackson alone has guaranteed the Ravens an elite running game since the day he took over for Joe Flacco midway through the 2018 season. He’s that dynamic with the ball in his hands and demands that much attention from opposing defenses. Any running back becomes a high-efficiency problem when taking advantage of No. 8’s gravitational pull.

So what might happen if the Ravens plugged the most productive running back of the last decade — an all-time physical specimen who easily cruises past 20 mph at 6 feet 2, 247 pounds — into that equation?

The pairing of Jackson and Henry was the equivalent of a football sugar plum dancing through our collective imagination, and Thursday’s opener was Christmas morning. Finally, we’d get to see it in real life.

It took less than one drive for us to see the horror defenses will confront when they try to account for both. As the Ravens pushed toward the red zone, Jackson faked a third-and-1 handoff to Henry and glided untouched around left end for 11 yards. He went left for 8 on the next play. Then he took a snap from under center and handed to Henry, who powered through a gap cleared by fullback Patrick Ricard to finish his first Ravens drive with a touchdown.

Left, right, speed, power. Which poison would you like, sirs?

There were questions coming in. How would Henry adapt to taking a higher percentage of his handoffs from shotgun formations? Would he and Jackson have instant chemistry on the read-option handoffs the Ravens have used to devastating effect? Would an overhauled offensive line have the mobility to set up the wide zone runs that were Henry’s bread and butter in Tennessee?

The Ravens mixed up Henry’s looks Thursday, going to him from under center, from the shotgun and from the pistol. His role diminished when they had to play from behind in the second half, and his 13 carries for 46 yards won’t stand out in a career full of blazing stat lines. But we saw that as much as Jackson might set up Henry, Henry will keep defenses from throwing everything at Jackson. It was the quarterback who went off in Kansas City. Don’t be surprised if it’s the running back the next time we see this promising partnership in action.

Quarterback

The Ravens need to get Lamar Jackson outside the pocket more because that’s where he does most of his damage. Their best play is still him scrambling around and improvising, which resulted in a 49-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely in the fourth quarter. Jackson, though, missed running back Justice Hill on a short crossing pattern late in the first half, which should have been a touchdown. Jackson also underthrew Flowers streaking down the right sideline early in the third quarter after he beat cornerback Jaylen Watson. He also missed Flowers in the back of the end zone on the Ravens’ last drive. Jackson did find Likely in the back of the end zone on the last play of regulation to seemingly pull Baltimore within a point, but the tight end stepped out of bounds to end the game. Jackson is still the best offensive weapon the Ravens have, but he has to make the big plays for the team to take the next step. He completed 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards and rushed 16 times for an additional 122 yards. Grade: B+

Running backs

The Ravens should have used running back Derrick Henry more, as he had only 13 carries for 46 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown run to open the game. The Ravens, though, are becoming too predictable using backup halfback Hill in passing situations and throwing to him in the flats. Hill had six catches for 52 yards. The Ravens need a change-of-pace running back, and they won’t get one until Keaton Mitchell returns from a knee injury later in the season. Grade: C-

Ravens vs. Chiefs, September 5, 2024 | PHOTOS

Offensive line

Left tackle Ronnie Stanley kept getting called for illegal formation penalties, especially in the first half, and that cost the Ravens. Baltimore needs to cut down on the rotation at right tackle with Patrick Mekari and rookie Roger Rosengarten and just play Mekari for a couple of games. Mekari needs to get his timing down, and the more work, the better. Both guards, Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele, struggled, and Faalele looked lost in pass protection for most of the first half. Grade: D

Receivers

The Ravens need to get their receivers involved more in the game plan because this looked more like the Zay Flowers (six catches for 37 yards) show for most of the game. Where were the two-tight end formations the Ravens talked about a lot during the offseason with Mark Andrews and Likely? Andrews had two catches for 14 yards. Did Nelson Agholor play? The Ravens need Rashod Bateman to have a breakout season and he wasn’t involved much in the offense until the second half, when he had two catches for 53 yards. The Ravens need to use these players more. Grade: C+

Defensive line

The Ravens handled Kansas City’s running game, holding the Chiefs to 72 yards on 20 attempts, and they kept Isiah Pacheco in line by holding him to 45 yards on 15 carries. But the Ravens failed to get pressure on quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and when they did, he still moved around in the pocket. The Ravens didn’t play nose guard Michael Pierce and tackle Nnamdi Madubuike in the preseason, and it showed. Madubuike had only two tackles; Pierce finished with four. Both will get better as the season goes on, but they need help from backups Broderick Washington and Travis Jones, who combined for three tackles. Madubuike added half a sack. Grade: B-

Linebackers

Kansas City took advantage of middle linebacker Roquan Smith in pass coverage, and he couldn’t keep up with receiver Rashee Rice on crossing patterns over the middle. Smith also needs to cut down on the cheap shots on opposing players, which has become an annoying habit since the second half of last season. There were times when he was getting blown out on running plays. Malik Harrison missed several tackles and the Ravens’ outside linebackers missed several assignments covering the Chiefs running backs out of the backfield. Grade: D

Secondary

The Ravens had a lot of blown coverages on the back end and were questioning themselves in the second half. Overall, the group was still a strength of the defense and played well enough for the Ravens to win, but they just couldn’t cover long enough. Safety Marcus Williams had six tackles and cornerback Brandon Stephens had four. The Ravens need to get a stronger game out of safety Kyle Hamilton. He is good near the line of scrimmage, but he got exposed in coverage. Mahomes, regardless of the situation, always finds a way to beat the Ravens. He threw for 291 yards and finished with a passer rating of 101.9. Grade: B

Special teams

Justin Tucker missed a 53-yard field goal attempt in the first half and the Ravens also allowed a 28-yard kickoff return, which helped lead Kansas City to its first touchdown of the game. Tucker, though, converted on field goal attempts of 25 and 32 yards. Jordan Stout averaged 37.5 yards on two punts, both finishing inside the 20-yard line. Neither team had much of an advantage in the return game. Grade: C+

Coaching

Coach John Harbaugh gambled and made a poor decision to go for it on fourth down with 9:45 left in the second quarter. The move handed Kansas City a short field and a 31-yard field goal by Harrison Butker about four minutes later. Clock management was poor as usual for most of the game and some of the play calling, especially on the offensive side, was poor. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken needs to get more out of his players and defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s linebackers looked lost in coverage. Harbaugh seemed willing to go for a 2-point conversion after the near-touchdown reception by Likely, but that probably would have failed on that, too. The coaching staff was a mess. Grade: D

Jackson darted around the pocket, evading defenders to give his receivers enough time to get open. Isaiah Likely wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. The quarterback placed a throw where only the tight end could reach it.

Likely hauled it in, then looked at the back judge staring back at him in — he thought — the end zone. But there was white paint under his toe. No touchdown, they ruled. Game over.

“That’s on me,” Likely said. “I gotta get both feet in.”

“I thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Still think it was a touchdown.”

“I didn’t think it was enough evidence to overturn it,” middle linebacker Roquan Smith said. “That’ll be something that the refs will have to deal with.”

Likely’s heroics were almost enough in the Ravens’ 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The tight end was the star of the unfavorable result, confirming the hype he spread with an impressive summer and stamping himself as perhaps Jackson’s most dependable target.

The 24-year-old tight end led the Ravens with nine catches for 111 yards, highlighted by a 49-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to pull his team within one score. He was a popular option on the final drive, which he exited briefly after coming down hard on an incompletion in the back of the end zone. But he returned one play later and nearly evened the score.

“It’s the last play of the game,” Likely said. “Would you wanna be out?”

The tight end’s long fourth-quarter touchdown impressed himself, but onlookers even more. Likely knew he had to make Zay Flowers’ key block worthwhile, so he darted around defenders until he had just one between him and the end zone. Then, Likely wanted to “see how good his brakes was” with a subtle step-back move in front of the goal line. Jackson likened it to a similar move the quarterback once put on a defender in high school, but said Likely topped his.

ISAIAH LIKELY HIT THE LAMAR JUKE pic.twitter.com/5uZpSDXJL9

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 6, 2024

Likely surpassed 100 yards just once in his career before Thursday and never reached 111. Nine catches is also a career high.

Jackson ran more in the defeat, displayed his new slimmer frame and was unafraid to lower his shoulder for extra yards. But when he did have time to scan the field behind an inexperienced offensive line, Jackson often lasered on his No. 2 tight end.

“He was just open,” the quarterback said.

Likely’s position-mate Mark Andrews was largely silent Thursday. The All-Pro finished with just 14 yards, his fewest since 2022, on two catches, seven fewer than Likely, and was never a focal point for Jackson and the offense.

Andrews was never targeted near the goal line or in the end zone. It was instead Likely who garnered those opportunities and proved why more two-tight end sets could be in the Ravens’ future.

“Isaiah played just a great football game,” coach John Harbaugh said. “So many plays, especially down the stretch.”

Likely had two catches for 16 yards in the Ravens’ postseason loss to Kansas City in January. He was a nonfactor for an offense that sputtered. Thursday, he was the spark that powered it. Baltimore’s offense had other faults that Jackson and Likely masked. If those can be cleaned up, Likely thinks, the next outcome will be different.

“This is the worst game we’re gonna play all year,” Likely said. “If this is the best that they got, good luck in the postseason.”

The Chiefs began Thursday night by unfurling another Super Bowl championship banner — their third in five years — in front of a raucous crowd at Arrowhead Stadium and ended it with a 27-20 victory over the Ravens in a rematch of last season’s AFC championship game. And just like when the teams last met at M&T Bank Stadium in January, Baltimore hung around until the end, with another call in the end zone that didn’t go their way and more silly and self-inflicted wounds that proved too much to overcome against the two-time defending champions.

Still, the Ravens had their chances — until they ran out of them.

In the first showdown of players who have each won at least two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards to kick off a season, quarterback Lamar Jackson, incredibly, kept Baltimore within reach until the game’s final play. With the clock expiring and the Ravens needing a touchdown from 10 yards out, he found Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone for leaping grab between two defenders. Although it was initially ruled a catch, the celebration was short-lived after the call was overturned by replay, which showed the tight end’s toe ever so slightly out of bounds.

“I thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Still think it was a touchdown. … I stand on that.”

Instead, it was the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes who were the ones who standing victorious again.

For the fifth time in six meetings between the two quarterbacks, Kansas City came out on top. And it felt like deja vu, with the Ravens’ own mistakes putting them in a hole from which they could not escape.

Baltimore committed seven penalties, four of which were on a revamped and inexperienced offensive line for illegal formation for lining up in the backfield, a point of emphasis for officials this season after Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor was often criticized for doing so last season but not flagged for it. Three of Thursday night’s calls were against Ravens left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who was critical of the officiating afterward.

“I really feel like they were just trying to make an example and they chose me to be the one to do that,” he said. “As far as I saw, they weren’t doing it on both sides of the ball and I know that I was lined up in good position the majority of those calls they made.”

Jackson said the penalties were “very frustrating,” while Ravens coach John Harbaugh was likewise unhappy with how the illegal formation penalties were officiated.

“They put a thing out that they said they were going to call that differently,” he said. “ [Not] understanding how differently, we were the first offensive series of the season with that, and I think they saw probably everybody watching it. It’ll be interesting to see if they call it the same way the whole season.”

Stanley, a nine-year veteran, added there was “plenty of dialogue” with officials during the game.

“They just kept saying, ‘You need to move up.’ And I’m like, ‘How much more do I need to move up?’” he said. “It’s not my first year playing in this league. I know where to line up and I was lining up a lot ahead of of where I usually do. I know my helmet was breaking the center’s butt. … It’s their call to make, but like I said, I think they were trying to make an example out of me.

“It definitely hindered us as an offense. There’s a lot of big plays that were made that we had to come back and we were able to overcome a lot of those things.”

Ravens vs. Chiefs, September 5, 2024 | PHOTOS

Those were hardly the only penalties that set them back, however.

Inside linebacker Roquan Smith was flagged for a horse-collar tackle on the Chiefs’ opening possession, helping set up a 21-yard touchdown run by speedy rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy on an end-around to even the score at 7 after Derrick Henry (13 carries, 46 yards) gave Baltimore the early lead with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Then in the second quarter, Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman was hit with an offensive pass interference call for blocking downfield before Zay Flowers caught a short pass, wiping out a 4-yard gain and eventually leading to a punt three plays later. On their next possession, a delay of game pushed the Ravens back 5 yards and Justin Tucker eventually missed a 53-yard field goal attempt.

“A lot of the things that happened were self-inflicted,” Smith said. “They made us pay for it, and hey, it’s a game of inches.”

And for the Ravens, a game of costly miscues — again.

That included in the third quarter, when defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike was flagged for roughing after a hit on Mahomes. Instead of facing third-and-20 from Baltimore’s 28-yard-line, the foul gave Kansas City a first down on the 14. Two plays later, Isiah Pacheco bullied his way into the end zone from a yard out to give the Chiefs a 20-10 lead.

Other mistakes by Baltimore included mismanaging the clock at the end of the first half by burning 20 seconds with all three timeouts in hand before settling for a 25-yard field goal by Tucker, as well as using two timeouts by midway through the third quarter.

“We just had some issues with the substitutions back and forth,” Harbaugh said. “They were running different groups on the field and stuff like that. We did have some communication problems.”

In between, the Ravens’ defense and first-year coordinator Zach Orr had their own problems, with few answers for the Chiefs’ speedy and potent offense.

Mahomes, who was the league’s MVP in 2018 and 2022, completed 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown, while wide receiver Rashee Rice had seven catches for 103 yards and Worthy had two catches for 47 yards, including what ended up being the deciding score when he got loose behind cornerback Marlon Humphrey on a busted coverage for an easy 35-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter that put the Chiefs up 27-17.

Most devastating was Mahomes’ play against the Ravens’ single-high coverage. He finished 12 of 14 for 151 yards for a plus-13.8% completion percentage over expected, per Next Gen Stats, for his highest mark against the formation since Week 17 of the 2021 season.

Still, Jackson kept pulling the Ravens back from the abyss.

The reigning NFL MVP completed 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown to Likely in the third quarter. He also rushed for 122 yards on 16 carries to lead Baltimore’s rushing attack.

When the Ravens finally did stop Mahomes, forcing a Kansas City punt with 1:55 remaining, they got the ball back at their own 13-yard line with no timeouts. Jackson drove Baltimore to the Chiefs’ 10, highlighted by Bateman’s leaping 38-yard grab that helped set up the game’s final play.

“Our offense battled, and we battled through the third and fourth quarter,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, these ugly games, we have to overcome them.”

Home opener

Raiders at Ravens

Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m.

TV: CBS

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

Line: Ravens by 7 1/2