The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs will raise their latest championship banner on Sept. 5, ahead of the first game of the 2024 NFL season. The Baltimore Ravens will be on the other sideline, hoping to get revenge against the team that beat them in the AFC Championship game last season.
The Ravens fell, 17-10, in the conference title game. The loss "definitely a little chip on our shoulder" according to quarterback Lamar Jackson and they have an opportunity to start their season with a big statement by defeating the team that has hoisted three Lombardi Trophies in five years.
While the playoff loss gave Baltimore more drive to win it all this year, Jackson said kicking off their season against the team that ended their previous season does not matter to him.
"I really don't care who we play; it really didn't matter," Jackson said (via a transcript from the Ravens). "At the end of the day, our goal is to make it to the Super Bowl."
He put emphasis on what happens in the playoffs, noting that a regular season win against the Chiefs means nothing when it really matters.
"We lost to them in the playoffs. Just us beating them in the regular season doesn't really do anything; it just helps us keep stacking up wins to hopefully make it to the playoffs if anything to try to get in that same position again and hopefully be successful," the former MVP said. "It really doesn't matter who we play [in the] first game; obviously it's the Chiefs, but I really didn't care."
Even though it is only the first game, the matchup could have playoff implications when determining seeds down the road. Last season, the Ravens secured the 1 seed, while the Chiefs stood at No. 3.
The last two Super Bowl champions have lost the first game of the year in the following NFL season, with the Chiefs losing to the Lions in Week 1 of 2023 and the Los Angeles Rams losing to the Bills in 2022.
