Lamar Jackson still searching for answers to his Patrick Mahomes problem

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s still not a rivalry.

Patrick Mahomes is now 5-1 against Lamar Jackson. That’s a lopsided matchup if I’ve ever seen one. 

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Baltimore Ravens, 27-20, at Arrowhead Stadium to open the 2024 NFL season on Thursday night. I know it’s a team game. But it’s also a quarterback’s game. Every one of these matchups between the Chiefs and Ravens has been a must-see game. It has a playoff atmosphere. 

The three-time champion Mahomes shows up in these moments. Jackson — well, he’s not getting it done. He still has yet to prove himself on the biggest stages.

In the final moments Thursday, Jackson had three consecutive incompletions in the end zone. Any one of them could’ve given the Ravens the chance to tie or win the game. First, he overthrew an open Isaiah Likely. (Given the misfire, it’s worth wondering whether the Ravens should have spiked the ball to stop the clock and settle his offense.) Then, he went wide on a wide-open Zay Flowers. Then he threw too high for Likely. The third attempt was just too high, pulling the tight end to the back of the end zone. Likely attempted a toe-tap — but his right toe landed an inch out of bounds.

“I thought he was in,” Jackson said postgame. “I still think he was in.”

He wasn’t. The eye in the sky don’t lie.

If Jackson is going to be an all-time great, he needs to make one of those throws. It’s that simple. 

If Jackson is going to lead the Ravens past the Chiefs and to a Super Bowl, the superstar quarterback can’t lead just two touchdown drives when throwing for 273 yards and rushing for 122 yards. If there’s one thing we now know about beating Mahomes from his matchups against Jackson, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts and Brock Purdy, it’s that 59 minutes of great play isn’t enough. It’s about 60.

Lamar carried his team. But not quite far enough.

It sounds preposterous, but it’s true. The two-time MVP needed to be two plays better than he was. He needed a touchdown and a 2-point conversation. He and the Ravens weren’t great enough to knock off Mahomes and the reigning champs on Thursday night.

“Same thing that happened last year [in the AFC Championship Game]. We beat ourselves,” receiver Rashod Bateman said. “We didn’t execute the game plan that we had. We weren’t successful on the plays that we needed to be successful on. And we failed.”

It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch for Mahomes. He threw a costly interception near the end of the first half. (Though Lamar didn’t make it cost nearly enough, with the Ravens settling for a field goal after the turnover.) Mahomes also put too much pepper on a pair of swing passes, one to Samaje Perine in the second half and the other to Isiah Pacheco in the first half. Both could’ve gone for big gains — and the Perine incompletion was on a third down that, had he caught it, would’ve generated a first down and probably gotten the Chiefs into the red zone (or near it).

What’s crazy is that Mahomes and company left plenty of plays on the table — and, still, they came away with a win against one of the top contenders in the AFC. The Chiefs have been winning for years without being at their best, largely because they don’t have to be with No. 15 under center.

And all they did this offseason was set Mahomes up for more success this year. It’s borderline unfair. 

Rookie receiver Xavier Worthy scored a touchdown on his first touch of the game. He later slammed the door shut on the Ravens in the fourth quarter when they busted their coverage on him and he punished them for a 35-yard touchdown catch. Worthy is the sixth rookie since 1970 to record a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in his first career game, and just the second to do so in the 21st century. So, yeah, it was a successful start for the first-rounder. 

It’s just one game, but he already seems to fit the mold of what Kansas City has been lacking: a legitimate field-stretcher. He’s the guy that set a record at the NFL combine for the 40-yard dash. And now he’s been cast for a starring role in the Chiefs’ Legion of Zoom offense.

But Worthy wasn’t even the team’s best receiver. Rashee Rice is clearly ready for WR1 duties — he finished with seven catches for 103 yards. That made life easy for Travis Kelce, who did a whole lot of blocking but didn’t really need to do much in the passing game. Because Mahomes’ time to throw was fairly quick (2.72), it made life easier for rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia. It was easy to forget that the Chiefs were without Hollywood Brown, whom they expect to have a substantial role once he returns from a sternoclavicular injury. 

All in all, the Chiefs didn’t have to labor for victory. They didn’t even have to execute particularly cleanly. It almost looked a bit like cruise control for Mahomes.

But Lamar did, indeed, look like he was laboring to generate production. And their new weapon, Derrick Henry, didn’t look like he was fresh. Every carry was hard work for the 30-year-old Henry. He finished with 13 carries for 46 yards and a touchdown. It never felt like he could build any speed — the Chiefs were too often in the backfield. 

Lamar and Henry had the same problem: the offensive line.

The line didn’t look like the dominant group that we’re accustomed to seeing from Baltimore. They had three new starters: guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalele and tackle Patrick Mekari. Rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten also took some snaps for Mekari — and his first didn’t go well. Defensive tackle Chris Jones blasted past the rookie and strip-sacked Jackson. 

That’s a part of why Jackson had so many rushing yards. He was quick to move out of the pocket in general, recording 112 of his 273 pass yards on the run. His lone touchdown? That was on the run, too.

“The things that he can do — it’s impressive,” Ravens center Chris Lindenbaum said. “But at the end of the day, he can’t be a one-man show out there. Everyone has to play a part.”

By the fourth quarter, Jackson started playing hero ball. He ran and tried desperately to make things happen. Two things worked: getting the ball to Likely and rushing the ball himself. Likely finished with nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. 

As for Lamar’s ground production, that was a big part of his offseason plan as he trimmed down to give his team more in the rushing game. But that also led to bigger hits. He can run more — but he also needs to get down more. He just recently spoke to GQ Magazine about how his body wore down last season yet looked on pace for that to repeat itself. 

Cutting the weight can’t mean increasing the contact.

Jackson’s vertical attempts were off-target. He was 1 of 5 on passes that traveled 20 yards or more. For the most part, Jackson checked down and hoped that Flowers and Likely would generate yards after the catch.

Jackson didn’t get help from tight end Mark Andrews, who is recovering from last season’s ankle injury and a recent car accident. Outside of a 38-yard catch that put the Ravens into scoring position on the final drive, Bateman wasn’t productive. That was just one of his two catches. The former first-rounder was one guy that probably should have showed up more. The Chiefs started a relatively unproven cornerback in Jaylen Watson, who has been injured throughout training camp. Bateman and Jackson couldn’t take advantage.

Even the officials made life difficult for the Ravens, who faced countless illegal formation penalties from their tackles — when it appeared the Chiefs were making the same mistake but not getting flagged for it. Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley said he was studying the Chiefs tackles and felt like their formations were in worse shape, but didn’t receive any flags.

“It’s a little bit upsetting,” Stanley said. “I just feel like — kinda making me feel like I’m crazy, like I don’t know where I’m lining up. We’ll watch the film. They just need to be held accountable if that’s what it is. If it’s that egregious, and they’re making those calls and they shouldn’t be, they should be held accountable.”

He has a point.

But even without those flags, the Ravens still looked treacherously flawed — from their departures (on the offensive line) to their additions (Henry) to the spots where they kept the status quo (Bateman at WR2). It’s not clear whether it adds up to an ascending team. 

But don’t tell Likely.

“This is probably the worst game we’re going to play all year,” Likely said. “So, if this is the best that they got, I mean, good luck in the postseason.”

And that just went up on Mahomes’ bulletin board.

Thursday night was Jackson’s opportunity to get after Mahomes — to truly ignite a rivalry. Not with talk. But with a W. All Mahomes did was further cement what was already clear: he’s better. He’s the best. 

And he only continues to pull further away from the field.

Henry McKenna is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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