Football really is a game of inches.
The Kansas City Chiefs held on to beat the Ravens 27-20 at Arrowhead Stadium in Thursday’s season opener after a dramatic last-second Baltimore touchdown was overturned.
Trailing the Chiefs by seven, Lamar Jackson quarterbacked an 11-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a pass to tight end Isaiah Likely, who seemed to have his feet in bounds while making a spectacular catch. The play was originally called a touchdown on the field but got overturned when replay showed that Likely’s toe was on the line, giving Kansas City the win.
“I got to get both feet in,” Likely said postgame, according to The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec. The third-year tight end put on a show, catching nine passes for 111 yards and one touchdown.
Jackson said the referees shouldn’t have changed the call.
“I still think it was a touchdown,” the two-time MVP said.
The Chiefs built their fourth-quarter lead on Xavier Worthy’s magical debut. The first-round rookie receiver scored two long touchdowns in his first pro appearance, including a 21-yard TD run in the first quarter. Worthy is the first player in NFL history with both a rushing and receiving touchdown of 20-plus yards in his debut, notes NFL.com’s Tony Holzman-Escareno (not including replacement players from the strike-shortened 1987 season).
Both starting quarterbacks also lived up to the hype in the rematch of last season’s AFC title game.
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes finished the night with 20 completions on 28 attempts for 291 yards and one touchdown against one interception. The 28-year-old, who is now the Chiefs’ all-time leader in passing yards, improved to 5-1 in his career against Jackson, including the playoffs.
Jackson racked up 273 yards and one passing touchdown while leading Baltimore with 122 rushing yards. He now ranks third all time in career rushing yards among quarterbacks behind Michael Vick and Cam Newton.
The Chiefs will battle another AFC powerhouse next week as they host the Cincinnati Bengals. The Ravens, meanwhile, host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2.
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