Know thy rival: Ravens face off against Chiefs in high-stakes opener

If you've been struggling to find anyone willing to back the Baltimore Ravens in their Week 1 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, that tracks. The Chiefs are overwhelmingly favored in this game, not necessarily in terms of the point spread, but by media predictions. Essentially, no one is giving the Ravens a punching chance in this game.

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are the class of the NFL. Coming off back-to-back Super Bowl championships puts them in a tier of their own. However, there are no "gimmes" in the NFL and the Chiefs will have to earn their victory over the Ravens. A rematch (or lack thereof) of last season's AFC Championship game is quite the start to the 2024 season and we are here for it. This is what football is all about.

To get ready for the game, we sat down with our friend Matt Conner, site expert over at Arrowhead Addict, to tell us more about what the Ravens should expect to see from the Chiefs in their Week 1 matchup.

What is the outlook for the Chiefs this season: business as usual, or is there pressure to achieve an unprecedented three-peat?​

Everyone realizes the historic place they're in and the rare position to even try what they're doing at all. That said, the Chiefs are also the fifth-youngest team in the league, so I'd say the entire organization is both trying their best to take advantage of the present moment but no one is selling off the future of the franchise to cash it all in for the present. Every roster is flawed, so the Chiefs should be the favorites as they are and yet they're still young and deep for future considerations.

Knowing they're a relatively young team, where are the biggest flaws on this roster?

The most concerning part of the roster has been the team's run defense and the defensive interior, to be specific. Besides Chris Jones, it's a group of largely replacement-level players, and even now Jones and Nick Bolton in the second level have been dealing with preseason injuries (stinger and elbow, respectively). The Ravens and Chiefs had the best defenses in the NFL a year ago in terms of points allowed, but K.C. was also in the bottom 25% of the NFL in yards/carry allowed with 4.5. My expectation is that Baltimore leans into that (and the opportunities that success there creates) as much as possible.

Will the loss of L'Jarius Sneed play a major factor for the Chiefs?

This could be the answer to your last question, depending on who you ask. I'm bullish on the Chiefs secondary because the Chiefs have been here before. They've lost Charvarius Ward, Kendall Fuller, Tyrann Mathieu, Juan Thornhill and more in the last couple of years and continue to look young and dynamic in the defensive backfield. That said, there's no clear replacement for Sneed, who was every bit the lockdown corner the Titans are paying him to be. Sneed made some huge plays in the last matchup and the Chiefs will have an adjustment period for sure. I trust these coaches, however, to put young talent like Chamarri Conner and Trent McDuffie and Joshua Williams in the right place.

Any final predictions for the game?

The Chiefs aren't monkeying around with anything this season when it comes to important conference matchups. They also know this is their best chance for early AFC positioning against a team they'll likely face again in the postseason. Plus, the Chiefs' stretch in December is brutal and they could use any early momentum they can build. I'd expect a well-played game with some odd intermittent results (the Week 1 thing) from both sides before the Chiefs come away with the home win. Chiefs 21, Ravens 18

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