Roger Rosengarten received a rude welcome to the NFL when Chris Jones breezed right past the rookie tackle and into the Baltimore backfield. Guard Daniel Faalele couldn't block Jones either, and the play ended with the Kansas City star forcing a fumble by Lamar Jackson.
At times in their 27-20 loss Thursday night, Jackson and the Ravens showed flashes of the brilliance that propelled them to the top seed in the AFC last season, but as expected, their new-look offensive line experienced some issues. Baltimore lost three starters on that unit, and given the constraints of the salary cap, the Ravens tried to retool the line with young, unproven players.
That ended up being the only sack Jackson took, and by the end of the night, he'd been such an effective and willing scrambler that he finished with 122 yards rushing. But pass protection issues made it hard for him to throw deep.
And then there were the penalties. Tackle Ronnie Stanley — a veteran of the group — was hit several times with flags for illegal formation. Baltimore seemed unprepared for how the game was being called and slow to adjust.
“They put a thing out that they said they were going to call that differently,” coach John Harbaugh said. "We were the first offensive series of the season with that, and I think they saw probably everybody watching it. It’ll be interesting to see if they call it the same way the whole season. I’ll challenge them to call it the same way they called it tonight the whole season, so hopefully they’ll be consistent about that.”
Much was made about Jackson's efforts to slim down for this season. He set a career high in yards passing in 2023 but was less explosive than usual as a runner. Thursday was his highest rushing output since 2020, and he showed more eagerness to take off than he did in Baltimore's loss to Kansas City in the AFC title game in January.
Baltimore's defense held up pretty well in its first game under new coordinator Zach Orr, but the Ravens ended up with a few unfavorable matchups against receiver Rashee Rice. And there was a badly blown coverage on a touchdown by speedy rookie Xavier Worthy.
The Ravens also burned a couple timeouts on defense early in the second half. If they'd saved those they might've had more time or more options on their final drive.
“We just had some issues with the substitutions back and forth. They were running different groups on the field and stuff like that," Harbaugh said. “We did have some communication problems. That’s something that we’ll have to iron out for sure. We can be better with that. We will be better with that.”
The most productive tight end on the field was not Travis Kelce or Mark Andrews. It was Baltimore's Isaiah Likely, who had nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. He came within inches of another TD on the final play of the game that would have given the Ravens a chance to win with a 2-point conversion.
Likely also gave Kansas City some juicy bulletin board material should the teams meet again.
“I’d say this is probably the worst game we’re going to play all year," he said. "So if this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason.”
Although the impact was most obvious in the passing game, the offensive line's run blocking wasn't great either. Derrick Henry scored an early touchdown in his debut for Baltimore, but in general he didn't have a lot of running room when the Ravens tried to get him involved.
“I believe our offense has a lot of new additions, and we’re just getting adjusted,” Jackson said. “We battled. You can see it. We put points on the board. We just have to do what we have to do to win those games.”
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy left because of an eye injury and did not return.
On plays designated as scrambles by Pro Football Focus, Jackson had 70 yards on nine rushes. It was 29 yards on five rushes in the AFC championship game.
Baltimore gets a bit of a layoff now before hosting the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 15.
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