KANSAS CITY, Mo. (news agencies) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and a touchdown, and the Kansas City defense kept Lamar Jackson and the Ravens out of the end zone on three heart-stopping plays in the final seconds, allowing the Chiefs to begin the pursuit of a record third straight Super Bowl title with a 27-20 victory over Baltimore on Thursday night.
The game ended with a video review after Jackson appeared to connect with Isaiah Likely in the back of the end zone with no time remaining for a touchdown. The video clearly showed Likely’s toe landing on the endline, though, and the call was overturned, sending the Chiefs — and superfan Taylor Swift, high up in a suite — into a wild celebration.
Xavier Worthy had touchdowns rushing and receiving, and Isiah Pacheco also had a TD run for the Chiefs, who not only won the rematch of last season’s AFC title game but beat the Ravens for the fifth time in their last six meetings.
That lopsided ledger has been especially frustrating for Jackson, who has called Kansas City the Ravens’ “kryptonite.” He was sublime on Thursday night, throwing for 273 yards and a touchdown while adding 122 yards on the ground, but a video review of the final play of the game left him to rue another missed chance to finally upstage Mahomes and Co.
Jackson gave Baltimore a chance, too, after getting the ball back at his own 13-yard line with 1:50 left and no timeouts.
He completed a couple throws to Likely, who finished with 111 yards receiving and a score, and scrambled on third-and-2 for a first down. Two plays later, Jackson zipped a pass 38 yards to Rashod Bateman down the sideline that moved the Ravens to the Kansas City 10 with just 19 seconds to go — plenty of time for a few shots at the end zone.
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 last throw, after Jackson had scrambled for what seemed like an eternity. Ravens coach John Harbaugh signaled that his team would try for a winning 2-point conversion, but it didn’t get that chance after the video review.
The wild ending came after the start was delayed about 20 minutes by a storm that brought heavy rain and lightning.
The Ravens opened with an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended when Derrick Henry, who tormented the Chiefs in six previous meetings while he was with Tennessee, plunged into the end zone from 5 yards out for the early lead.
But the high-octane Chiefs, trying to avoid losing their opener in back-to-back years, needed just two minutes to produce an answer. Mahomes twice connected with Rashee Rice, who has so far avoided any NFL suspension for his role in a street-racing crash in Dallas, before Worthy showed why the Chiefs made him their first-round pick with a 21-yard touchdown run.
After those two drives, 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 field goal for Kansas City. 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 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 — within 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.
Swift, the 14-time Grammy winner, 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.
Baltimore: LB Kyle Van Noy left six plays into the second half with an eye injury and did not return.
The Ravens host Las Vegas on Sunday, Sept. 15. The Chiefs get a visit from Cincinnati the same day.
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