The 2024 NFL season kicks off with a showdown between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday Night Football. With Patrick Mahomes, the reigning Super Bowl MVP going up against Lamar Jackson, the reigning league MVP, the Week 1 opener stands to be a thriller.
These two teams last met during the AFC Championship Game on January 28. The Chiefs defeated Baltimore 17-10 before triumphing over the San Francisco 49ers in the 2024 Super Bowl, becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships in twenty years.
Leading up to the Ravens’ rematch against the Chiefs on September 5, Jackson was asked about his relationship with Mahomes, and his answer immediately raised some eyebrows. “I don’t have a relationship with him,” Jackson told reporters. However, the 27-year-old said it’s not personal.
“I don’t think I have a relationship with any quarterback in the league. I don’t take anything from [Mahomes], I just play my game. But, he’s a great quarterback. I’m going to say that. He’s a great quarterback. He has the accolades to prove it, and he’s made things happen on the field that makes his team successful.”
While Jackson is 1-4 against Mahomes in his career, he looks at their fifth matchup as he does any other game. “I’m not just going to look at this game like it’s a revenge game,” Jackson said, per ESPN. “Anybody we’ve played, no matter if we’ve beat them or lost to them in previous years, I just want to win.”
Lamar Jackson Claimed Ravens Would’ve Won the AFC Championship Game If He Felt Better ‘Body-Wise’
Jackson claimed he doesn’t want “revenge” against Kansas City, but his comments on the AFC Championship loss over the summer hint otherwise. Jackson struggled against Steve Spagnuolo’s defense in January, completing 20-of-37 passes with one touchdown and one interception, he felt the Ravens would’ve won if he was in better shape.
“How I’m feeling right now,” he told The Washington Post’s Kent Bobb after a June practice, “I wish I was feeling like this, body-wise, in the AFC Championship. We would have won the game. I would have been able to move around for my guys. With me just hurting and can’t move, I know if my legs were good, we would have won that [expletive]. We wouldn’t have even had to throw the ball. [Expletive] throwing the ball.”
While Mahomes completed 30-of-39 passes for 241 yards and one touchdown against the Ravens, the Chiefs defense effectively shut Jackson down. Between former Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed forcing Ravens wide receiver Zay Jones’ fumble at the one-yard line and an Deon Bush’s fourth-quarter interception, the defense sealed Kansas City’s win.
With Jackson at full health, the quarterback can put his money where his mouth is and prove what he can accomplish with his legs in Week 1.
