The Ravens will open their season at 8:20 p.m. Thursday against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Here are game predictions from The Baltimore Banner’s sports staff.
Kyle Goon, columnist
It’s going to be an emotional night in Kansas City as the Chiefs celebrate their Super Bowl championship, which they won in part by upending the Ravens’ dream season. This is in large part a mental game, and the Ravens feel awfully tense this week, from coach John Harbaugh on down. The secrecy about an offensive line that everyone believes will suffer at least hiccups feels less like gamesmanship and more like an unwillingness to concede their obvious weaknesses. Some might call that tension being locked in, but to me, it rings of the Chiefs living in the Ravens’ heads.
The Ravens are 1-4 against Kansas City in the Patrick Mahomes era. That doesn’t reflect a talent disparity as much as a mental edge, in my opinion. Even in Week 1, the Ravens have much more at stake than the defending champs. If they lose, they’re still living in the Chiefs’ shadow all year long. If they win, they’ll have to prove they can do it again in the playoffs. Home-field advantage, early struggles on the offensive line and Mahomes taking on a first-time defensive play-caller feel like significant factors working against Baltimore. I’m not saying they can’t beat Kansas City down the road, but it’s hard for me to pick the Ravens on Thursday night.
Chiefs 23, Ravens 16
Giana Han, reporter
For the most part, it felt like the Ravens beat themselves in the AFC championship. They were the better team heading into the game and simply decided not to run the ball. Their offense’s performance offset a lights-out defensive half. But this is not the same Ravens team.
There is still a lot of talent across the board, but the offensive line is worrying. There’s also an inexperienced play-caller on the defensive side in new coordinator Zach Orr. And they’re going against a great coach in Andy Reid. He’s had months to anticipate how the Ravens will adjust. Of course, both quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, are X-factors. Both can swing a game single-handedly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Ravens won, but I’m not picking against the Chiefs until they prove I should.
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Chiefs 23, Ravens 20
Jonas Shaffer, reporter
This could be a night of rude introductions: Congratulations, Zach Orr. For your first regular-season game as Ravens defensive coordinator, you have to stop Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. And congratulations, Andrew Vorhees, Daniel Faalele and maybe Roger Rosengarten. For your first career start — either in the NFL or, in Faalele’s case, at a new position — you have to stop Chris Jones, George Karlaftis and Steve Spagnuolo’s migraine-inducing pressure packages.
Of course, the Ravens present their own set of problems. Their defense should be elite, their skill position players should help more than they did in the AFC championship game, and Lamar Jackson has had all offseason to figure out what went wrong in January. But the Ravens’ offensive line, until proven otherwise, looks like a liability. And playing a prime-time game at Arrowhead Stadium won’t help matters.
Chiefs 24, Ravens 17
Paul Mancano, “Banner Ravens Podcast” co-host
The burden of having future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry is the courage it requires to be patient with him. In his eight NFL seasons, Henry has averaged just 3.6 yards per carry in the first quarter, then 5.0 the rest of the way. Unlike his counterparts at the position, Henry gets better the more he’s used.
The Chiefs, of course, will be ready for Henry. If the Ravens struggle to gain traction on the ground and fall in an early hole, will offensive coordinator Todd Monken have the fortitude to keep pounding the rock? Or will he fall into the same trap he did in January and abandon the ground game?
Chiefs 27, Ravens 20
Chris Korman, editor
I think there’s enough reason to believe the Ravens will eventually have a good enough offensive line. It just won’t be Thursday night. Now, whether the presence of Derrick Henry can offset that to some degree remains to be seen. But even he requires room to work and, given the complexity of how Kansas City attacks the line of scrimmage, that feels unlikely in Week 1.
But I do think the Ravens will keep it close. They know full well what is at stake here by opening the year against the team that ended their season prematurely last year. The symbolism is impossible to miss, and even though this is the first in a long string of games that will bring many challenges, it’s clearly going to set the tone for the season. So I see it as a bit more of a coin toss that they’ll eventually lose.
Chiefs 25, Ravens 24
Brandon Weigel, editor
I believe in the theory behind the offensive line rebuild. When you’re in a salary cap league and the quarterback has a cap hit of $32.4 million, there’s only so much you can spend, especially when veterans such as tight end Mark Andrews, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, safety Marcus Williams and cornerback Marlon Humphrey are also making north of $15 million.
Stanley, when healthy, is a solid protector of Lamar Jackson’s blind side, and he’s given every indication he has finally gotten over numerous setbacks brought on by a series of injuries. Center Tyler Linderbaum is a Pro Bowler and has been a stable starter since he was drafted in 2022. At a minimum, there should be three league-average starters among Andrew Vorhees, Daniel Faalele, Ben Cleveland, Patrick Mekari and Roger Rosengarten. They could be better because, as coach John Harbaugh indicated, the unit’s performance is a bit of an unknown: “What can these guys be? Why not be great?”
The answers will determine the season. But is the line going to be ready for prime time against one of the league’s top defenses? Don’t count on it.
Chiefs 23, Ravens 13
