Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens are not going to have a cakewalk back to the No. 1 seed in the AFC in the 2024 season. Three of their first four games come against playoff teams from last year, including a Week 1 duel against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
At the risk of reopening some sore old wounds, Ravens fans know all to well what happened the last time they faced off against Kansas City with the entire football world watching. Jackson and the Ravens were defeated at home in the postseason, and beating them won't get any easier this season.
While Ravens fans and casual observers will be looking at the duel between Baltimore and Kansas City with great interest, Jackson doesn't seem to be taking too keen of an interest in this game. In his eyes, the Chiefs are just another game on the schedule.
“I really don’t care who we play; it really didn’t matter,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day, our goal is to make it to the Super Bowl. We lost to them in the playoffs. Just us beating them in the regular season doesn’t really do anything; it just helps us keep stacking up wins to hopefully make it to the playoffs to try to get in that same position again and hopefully be successful."
Lamar Jackson on opening with Chiefs: I really didn't care. https://t.co/KKzGSJ9El8
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 27, 2024
Lamar Jackson previews Ravens-Chiefs opener with provocative comments
The Chiefs may be a stronger opponent this season, which is a scary thought. While the loss of star cornerback L'Jarius Sneed is going to be a big blow for this defense, they improved their wide receiver room by signing speedster Marquise Brown and drafting Xavier Worthy.
Baltimore will also need to worry about a very good defensive line that includes the mighty Chris Jones and emerging star George Karlaftis. This unit will clash with arguably the weakest position group on Baltimore's roster, as their offensive line is replacing three starters.
The force multiplier of Jackson is always going to be a threat for opposing defenses, and adding Derrick Henry to the mix will make Kansas City much more nervous than Gus Edwards ever did. The possibility for an opening night upset win is certainly there.
Jackson is well aware of the fact that to be the best, you have to beat the best. The AFC will once again run through Kansas City, and Jackson will need to overcome the demons that manifested in the postseason to get the job done.