NFL Kickoff 2024 Recap: Game of Inches

Football is back, baby!

I'm a die hard hockey fan, but I know very well that there is always something extra special about the NFL season. Among other things, it's mainly because the NFL season is so short, resulting in a very long offseason that is only interrupted by the Draft, the schedule announcement, and of course, preseason. Nearly seven months in-between the final seconds of the Super Bowl, and the first kickoff of the following season.

A few tidbits. This is the fifth season to feature the current playoff format that sends seven teams per conference to the postseason--totalling 14 teams overall. This is the fourth season to feature 17 games played in 18 weeks. As a result of that last statement, the NFL regular season has 272 games total.

And this is Game #1.

The Kansas City Chiefs again opened the season and began their road to history, attempting to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. Their first foes in this quest are quite familiar: the Baltimore Ravens. This is a rematch of last year's AFC Championship contest, which took place in Baltimore, but saw the home top-seeded Ravens fall to the Chiefs. In this rematch, Arrowhead is the home site, as the Chiefs celebrated another championship.

The Ravens had other plans, as their first drive saw their new star running back, Derrick Henry, strike first for the Ravens. 11 plays, 70 yards, and King Henry runs it in. 7-0 Ravens, but they don't enjoy that lead for long, as Xavier Worthy tied it up for the Chiefs. It was 7-7 after the first quarter, and the offense stalled a tiny bit. KC only managed a pair of field goals to go up 13-7, but the Ravens did manage to get to FG range themselves. A 53-yard attempt, but for Justin Tucker, it's a chip shot.

Well, normally. Just wide left.

So after Hell froze over for just a bit, Patrick Mahomes ended up giving the ball back to Baltimore on an interception. Lamar Jackson led the Ravens deep but could not get in. Tucker makes a closer FG, and at halftime, the Chiefs led 13-10. Pretty good first half, even-keeled, and Baltimore was in it. Then the third quarter happened. Baltimore was a mess, yet they only surrendered an Isiah Pacheco touchdown. However, that third quarter saw John Harbaugh burn two of the three timeouts he had in the second half, leaving him with only one just halfway into the third quarter.

Ravens were down 10 entering the fourth quarter, which began with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Lamar to tight end Isaiah Likely (remember that name). The deficit was cut to three, but it was up to 10 again thanks (again!) to Worthy, another touchdown to make it 27-17. The Ravens had over 10 minutes left, but they had to be careful, because they still had that one timeout left. 10 points, of course, is a touchdown, PAT, and field goal, and you want to get the hard part (the TD) over with first. They definitely tried, but couldn't find the end zone, so they had to settle for a Tucker FG. 27-20, and the Ravens defense had to stop KC cold on this drive. It was close--a long conversion was negated due to offsetting penalties, and they did have to burn their last timeout prior to the two-minute warning, but the last play--3rd and 10--was stopped.

After the warning, KC punted, but it was only returned to Baltimore's 13 yard line. The Ravens had to go 87 yards with 1:50 left and no timeouts. So far, things were going well. They got yards bit-by-bit and got out of bounds. An inbounds play saw KC have to call timeout via injury, and the Ravens did get past midfield, but they had under 50 seconds left. Then Lamar throws a long bomb to Rashod Bateman! 1st and Goal at the 10. First pass attempt was overthrown. 10 seconds left, and this is where it gets frustrating. Zay Flowers, wide open, Lamar misses him. Oh man! That killed off five seconds, leaving Baltimore with one more chance to force overtime. That chance saw Likely catch it right in the end zone--touchdown! Going to overtime!

Or so we thought...

Ohhhhh that hurts. I don't even have a dog in this game, but that hurts. They showed the replay of this, and there it was--plain as day. Mike Tirico, who was on call for this game, said it was a toe. It wasn't. It was a toenail. All it needed was just any part of that foot to touch that out of bounds white for that touchdown to be null and void, and sadly, that's what happened. Of course, any and all touchdowns are automatically reviewed and looked at, and it didn't take long for head official Shawn Hochuli to give us the bad news.

Out of bounds. Incomplete. Game over.

I've heard of winning by a hair and winning foot races by a nose, but I've never seen a game won by a toenail. The Kansas City Chiefs won by a damn toenail. That's what happened. Mahomes threw for 291 yards, a TD and an interception. Lamar threw for 273 yards and a TD, and ran for 122 yards. Derrick Henry ran for 46 yards and a TD, Isiah Pacheco ran for 45 yards and a TD, and Xavier Worthy had two TDs--one rushing and one receiving. As for Isaiah Likely, nine receptions, 111 yards, one touchdown, and was a toenail clipper away from a second.

I'm still in disbelief over that ending, holy moley. The drama, the tension, and how close the Ravens came to forcing overtime. Here's the thing about football. Because of the shortness of the season, it's the only sport where even the first game of the season is as important as the 272nd and last game of the season. In this case, we have the Chiefs and Ravens, who will most likely be jockeying for the #1 seed in the American Football Conference. And thanks to that toenail being out of bounds, the Chiefs have the head-to-head edge. The Ravens, who lost four games total in the 2023 season, are now one down in the loss column already. The rest of the AFC North will definitely look to capitalize on this.

One down, 271 games to go. The 2024 NFL season is here, folks! Let's sit back and enjoy this ride!