The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off the 2024 season with a victory on Thursday night as the back-to-back defending world champions held on to defeat the Baltimore Ravens.
Here are some quick notes from the win.
1. The Chiefs moved to 10-2 in season-openers under Head Coach Andy Reid.
Kansas City has now won 10 of its 12 season-openers under Coach Reid, which marks the best record for any team since Reid took over in 2013.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, specifically, is now 6-1 in season-openers, and on a larger scale, Mahomes moved to 16-4 in September with Thursday night's victory.
2. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made some franchise history.
Mahomes completed 20-of-28 passes for 291 yards in Thursday's victory, and he made some history in the process. In fact, Mahomes' 23-yard completion to tight end Travis Kelce midway through the second quarter moved the 28-year-old Mahomes past Pro Football Hall of Famer Len Dawson for the most passing yards in franchise history.
Mahomes, who now has 28,715 passing yards in his young career, owns the mark for the most passing yards through 97 career regular-season games in NFL history.
3. Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy had a night to remember.
Worthy's status as the fastest player in the history of the NFL Scouting Combine certainly led to some high expectations for the first-round pick, and on his first career touch, the former University of Texas star delivered.
The play, which began as a quick end-around, resulted in a 21-yard rushing touchdown for Worthy in which it looked as if every other player on the field was moving in slow motion. He was then back in the end zone a bit later, too, with a 35-yard touchdown catch deep down the sideline.
The 21-year-old Worthy is just the second player in the Super Bowl Era to tally a 20-yard rushing touchdown and a 20-yard receiving score in his NFL debut, joining James Brim in 1987.
Additionally, according to Jack Andrade of NFL Network, Worthy joined a short list of just five wide receivers over the last 20 years to record a 20-yard rushing score and a 30-yard receiving touchdown in a single game.
4. The Chiefs became the first team to tally multiple 20-yard touchdowns on Baltimore in quite a while.
Worthy's two 20-yard touchdowns on Thursday night were also significant due to the opponent. Baltimore has fielded one of the top defenses in the NFL in recent years, and prior to Thursday's game, the Ravens hadn't allowed multiple 20-yard touchdowns in a single game since Week 2 of the 2022 season.
The Ravens yielded just nine such plays (a league-low) over the previous two years before surrendering two to Kansas City on Thursday.
5. Wide receiver Rashee Rice posted the fourth 100-yard game of his young career.
Rice was consistently brilliant throughout Thursday's game, hauling in seven catches for 103 yards. Five of his seven grabs picked up a first down, and on all three of the Chiefs' touchdown drives, Rice tallied at least one reception.
Specifically, Rice caught a 16-yard pass that moved the chains on third down during the Chiefs' opening scoring drive, he added a 33-yard catch on Kansas City's touchdown drive early in the third quarter and also tallied an 8-yard grab on the Chiefs' final scoring series late in the game.
Rice put together a strong training camp in St. Joseph, and just one week into the regular season, he appears to be on the cusp of a special year.
6. The Chiefs' defense has held opponents under 28 points in 22 straight games.
Kansas City's defense – which ranked No. 2 in the NFL in terms of scoring in 2023 – picked up right where it left off last season on Thursday night. The Chiefs held Baltimore to a 1-for-4 mark in the red zone, and after yielding a touchdown drive on the Ravens' opening series, the Chiefs surrendered just 13 total points across Baltimore's next nine possessions.
The Chiefs have now held opponents under 28 total points in 22 consecutive games (including the playoffs) dating back to Week 1 of the 2023 season. It's the longest streak for any team since Washington posted a 23-game streak between the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
7. Defensive lineman Chris Jones notched a strip-sack early in the game.
Jones began his 2024 campaign with a bang on Thursday, notching six quarterback pressures and a strip-sack early in the contest. Defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah scooped up the loose football, which directly led to a Chiefs' field goal a bit later.
Jones ranks fifth in franchise history in terms of sacks with 76.5. He needs just two more sacks to match Justin Houston for fourth on that list.
8. Tight end Travis Kelce moved closer to some franchise history.
Kelce caught three passes for 34 yards on Thursday, moving him within seven receptions of passing Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the most catches in franchise history (916).
Kelce, who already owns the franchise mark for all-time receiving yards, is also just three touchdowns shy of passing Gonzalez (76) for the team record in that category.
9. Tailback Isiah Pacheco now has nine touchdowns in his last nine games.
Pacheco tallied 78 yards from scrimmage (45 rushing, 33 receiving) in Thursday's game, marking the eighth time in his last nine outings (including the playoffs) in which he's topped 75 yards from scrimmage.
The third-year running back has 854 yards from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns in that time.
10. Defensive end George Karlaftis recorded six pressures on the night.
Karlaftis recorded six pressures on Lamar Jackson throughout Thursday's game, matching Chris Jones for the team-lead. In total, the Chiefs pressured Jackson on 15 of his 51 dropbacks (29.4%), causing Jackson to scramble at his third-highest rate (19.5%) for any game since 2021.
It's all to say that the Chiefs' defensive line was disruptive throughout Thursday's game, and that effort – not to mention everything else mentioned above – helped lead to a significant victory to kick off the 2024 campaign.
