In a few hours, the Kansas City Chiefs begin their dissent on the 2024 season by hosting the Baltimore Ravens. Yes, winning is expected, but winning decisively to show the other 31 teams they are the team to beat this season, has to be their top objective.
It’s finally here! The NFL is back, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the season opener, and a new Super Bowl banner will be unveiled to the legions of fans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead. Even Pop Star Taylor Swift and her friends will attend on Thursday night. That alone makes this game a big deal.
The Chiefs head into the season opener as the overwhelming favorite to win their ninth straight AFC West title and are favored to play in their seventh straight AFC Title game. If the season plays out that way, that final AFC game of the year means the Chiefs have a chance to become the NFL’s first Three-Peat Super Bowl Champion.
Their leader, Patrick Mahomes, understands the task ahead. He knows KC’s offense struggled for most of last season. Yes, they found their groove in the postseason, but they do not want to repeat the process in 2024.
With new weapons in Hollywood Brown, and Xavier Worthy, Mahomes has two deep-threat receivers who should create open spaces for Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Head Coach Andy Reid has spent the off-season tinkering with the offense, which now has more speed and playmakers. Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is dialing up new schemes to combat the loss of Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.
Still, all that sounds good, but the key to the Chiefs season is which Mahomes we will see in 2024. The odds are that Mahomes will throw the rock downfield far more aggressively.
In the last two years without Tyreek Hill, he’s taken what the defense has given him and rarely took any chances on deep passes. If he can return to the 2019 form that guided his team to victory in Super Bowl LIV, and everyone remains healthy, the Chiefs will be in New Orleans in February.
Before we get too far ahead of their Super Bowl quest, the Chiefs must eliminate the close games and take the opportunity when given to reduce the AFC’s confidence in attempting to dethrone the Chiefs from their perch atop the conference.
Last season, they didn’t win some of the close games they had previously won. They didn’t blow out too many teams last year, and generally, every game was in doubt in the fourth quarter.
So, Thursday night, if the narrative about the Chiefs is going to change from last year offensively, they need to play fast, pour on the points, and their defense must quell any hopes their opponents have of coming back in the fourth quarter.
It won’t be easy, but despite limitations on offense and a defense that grew into a dominating role in 2023, the last two seasons still produced back-to-back Super Bowl Titles.
I’ve said this often: if the league didn’t beat the Chiefs last year with all their struggles on offense, they have very little chance to do so this year if Mahomes has his team playing full-throttle football.
We’ve seen Mahomes dominate most of his career, and last year was a new experience for him on the field. To his credit, he found a way to get the job done, but it cost him a pivotal element to his previous success—he wasn’t having fun.
When Mahomes is having fun, the rest of the NFL had better be worried that the two-time league MVP has the right mix of offense to lead the league in wins, passing yards, and touchdowns this season. If all that falls into place, the Chiefs will represent the AFC in Super LIX.
So, sending a message against the Baltimore Ravens in the season opener could go a long way toward delivering an opening salvo that 31 other teams will receive loud and clear: Mahomes and the Chiefs offense mean business in 2024.
Final Score Prediction: Chiefs 37 – Ravens 17
