First Game of the 2024 NFL Season

The new NFL season is finally here, and all eyes are on the Kansas City Chiefs to three-peat. Or on Dak Prescott to finally push the Cowboys out of the Wild Card? Can C.J. Stroud and the Texans go even farther this year? Will the Lions break through to the big game for the first time? Can any of the AFC teams actually beat the Chiefs? With thousands of questions, let’s make it simple and focus on the first game.

Luckily, we get to see a rematch of the AFC Conference Championship as our first game on Thursday (September 6th). The Baltimore Ravens will face off against Chiefs at their home stadium, Arrowhead Stadium.

LET’S GO!

It doesn’t get much bigger than an AFC Championship rematch! The Super Bowl Champion @Chiefs face 2023 @NFL MVP @LJ_era8 and the @Ravens Thursday for #Kickoff2024! pic.twitter.com/NbYLlG94I2 — Troy Vincent, Sr. (@TroyVincentSr) September 4, 2024

In the AFC Championship last January, the Chiefs were able to edge out the Ravens in a 17 to 10 win. It was a cold, wet game, but the Chiefs were able to jump out early and hold the lead.

A Zay Flowers fumble near the goal line, could have changed the game entirely. Maybe the game would go to overtime, or the Chiefs would score quick to end the game. However, regardless of the hypotheticals, the Ravens were still unable to beat the Chiefs. This is a running theme for every AFC quarterback. The only men to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are some guys named Tom Brady and Joe Burrow. This creates a revenge-game narrative for the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens added All-Pro world-beater Derrick Henry to their backfield making them a very run heavy team. While the Chiefs, added to their depleted receiving core, rookie first-rounder Xavier Worthy, and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. The first game should be close. Both teams have top defenses and offenses so it could go either way.

Bills fans watching tonight’s Ravens/Chiefs game: pic.twitter.com/DwiR9L43GZ

— Depressed Buffalo Sports Fan (@Tommy_Dangles72) September 5, 2024

Last year, the Chiefs lost their first game coming off a Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles. They lost 21-20 to the Detroit Lions. The Chiefs were missing two of their top three players in Travis Kelce and Chris Jones. They ended up struggling the rest of the year for their standards, but were still able to win a Super Bowl. I think the Ravens are hungry after such a poor performance last year against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship that they have to start out hot. The Ravens also play in most-likely the toughest division, so a win in Week 1 goes a lot farther than for the Chiefs. Who we all know, play in the AFC West where the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders don’t have the complete teams yet to compete for a championship.

Sometimes you gotta go back, to actually move forward.

The Ravens look for revenge Thursday night. #Ravensflock pic.twitter.com/mPW1Y6zTW4 — Patrick Cassat (@PatrickCassat) September 3, 2024

Prediction: Baltimore 27-23