5 things we learned from the Chiefs’ Week 1 battle against the Ravens

The Kansas City Chiefs hung another championship banner at Arrowhead Stadium as the NFL season kicked off on Thursday night. The defending champs came out swinging and did enough to hold off the Baltimore Ravens — who came up a literal toe-length short of their quest to avenge their exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Chiefs in last season’s AFC Championship Game.

While it wasn’t a perfect outing on either side of the ball, one thing was evident in this contest: with the addition of rookie speedster Xavier Worthy, the Chiefs’ passing attack is vastly improved over last season.

1. Rashee Rice might be the most important piece of the puzzle

The Chiefs will feed Rashee Rice and lean on him as much as possible to exploit the single-coverage looks out of the slot. Any time Rice ran a slant of a shallow cross, quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked in his direction and hit him in stride. Rice appears more comfortable in the offense heading into Year 2 and has earned the trust of head coach Andy Reid on the football field.

Rice caught a total of seven targets in this game for 103 yards. While he might not be the most explosive player in this offense, he could be the most important.

2. Xavier Worthy’s speed is as advertised

Now, onto the man who is the most explosive player in this offense.

On the very first touch of his career, rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy took an end-around 21 yards to the house for a touchdown. He later followed this up with a 35-yard touchdown reception on what was busted coverage by the Ravens secondary.

This is the sort of performance the Chiefs envisioned when they selected Worthy in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. While he only saw three targets in the game, his speed was a factor. While some have posed concerns about Worthy’s size, fearing that he will struggle to get off press coverage, Andy Reid is prepared to find ways to keep him out of those situations by bringing him in motion and lining him up off the line.

If Worthy is running free on a play, you have to take notice of him and account for it because if you don’t, he will slip behind your defense in the blink of an eye, and once he’s past you, you’re not catching him. His speed also stretches out the defense and opens up receiving lanes underneath for his teammates.

3. Kingsley Suamataia is going to be just fine

Did the Chiefs rookie left tackle have the cleanest performance in the game’s history on Thursday night?

Nope.

He was called for holding, gave up a sack and got beat on more than one occasion.

That being said, the Baltimore Ravens are one of the best pass-rushing teams and defenses in the NFL. This might have been one of his most difficult tests all season, and at no point did he look out of his depth or like he was drowning out there. Still just 21 years old, Suamataia was considered a project by most pundits when he came out in the draft; nobody had him pegged as a Day 1 starter in the NFL.

Suamataia has all the tools in the world to be one of the best tackles in the NFL, but he is still a work in progress, and the fact he played as well as he did in this game is an excellent sign of things to come.

4. Chiefs need to get more athletic at linebacker

There is no sugarcoating it. Nick Bolton had a game that he would like to forget. While he can usually rely on his play recognition and football IQ to compensate for his athletic deficiencies, he looked exposed against the Ravens.

He was nearly invisible in run defense throughout most of the game, and he was a liability in pass coverage, giving up a 49-yard touchdown pass to Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely. Bolton nearly gave up the game-winner as well, save for the fact that Likely’s foot was out of bounds on his second touchdown by an inch.

Not a lot was made of losing Willie Gay Jr. to free agency in the offseason, but the Chiefs missed his athleticism desperately on Thursday. Third-year linebacker Leo Chenal had a nice game around the line of scrimmage, and Drue Tranquill showed flashes, but there is a need on this team for another coverage linebacker.

5. The Chiefs and Mahomes are still the class of the NFL

On a night when the Chiefs hung their third Super Bowl banner in five years and where Patrick Mahomes surpassed Hall of Famer Len Dawson as the franchise’s all-time leading passer, it was clear from the start that the Chiefs were the better team.

The Ravens might be the Chiefs’ toughest test, and they are probably a top-five team in the entire NFL. Lamar Jackson ran wild and continues to be a tough matchup for Kansas City, yet the Chiefs still found a way to win.

Kansas City’s margin of error is so much greater than everyone else’s. They can struggle in the red zone, throw a terrible pick, give up a big play for a touchdown and still find a way to come out on top against one of the league’s best teams.