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What national NFL media is saying about Chiefs facing Ravens, Bengals to open season

pete grathoff
·4 min read

Two down, 15 to go.

The full Chiefs’ 2024 schedule will be released Wednesday, but we already know who they’ll face in the first two games. The NFL is serving up a pair of AFC Championship Game rematches for the Chiefs to open the season

On Sept. 5, the Chiefs will play host to the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Kickoff Game. Ten days later, the Cincinnati Bengals will be at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

The most recent playoff loss for Baltimore and Cincinnati came against the Chiefs in an AFC Championship Game.

Here is what national NFL media members were saying about the Chiefs facing the Ravens and Bengals to start the season.

The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen thinks the league is all to aware that the Chiefs are going for the first threepeat in Super Bowl history.

Conversely, Fox Sports’ Nick Wright, a noted Chiefs fan, thinks the NFL is doing KC a favor.

Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff had different thoughts about the health of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow going into the Chiefs game.

ESPN Radio’s “Unsportsmanlike” talked about the one-two punch to start the season for the Chiefs.

Ravens in Kickoff Game

The opener is good for the Ravens on one level, writes the Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec.

“The league had plenty of intriguing choices for this year’s game, including the Bengals, Houston Texans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers,” Zrebiec wrote. “However, the Chiefs-Ravens matchup, which has been dominated recently by Kansas City, apparently was too good to pass up.

“This should be welcomed by the Ravens for a number of reasons. For one, they get their trip to Arrowhead out of the way in early September instead of potentially having to play in Kansas City in November and December, when weather could be a major factor. It could be beneficial that the Ravens will find out immediately how good they are. John Harbaugh typically has his team ready to go from the jump. The Ravens are 12-4 in regular-season-opening games under Harbaugh, and they’ve won seven of their last eight.

“If the Ravens get some motivation by witnessing all the pomp and circumstance that involves the Chiefs raising another banner, that’s a good thing, too.”

Wright, however, believes the Ravens should be unhappy about having to go to KC for the opener.

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger is excited about the game.

The NFL gave fans what they wanted in the opener, former Packers star A.J. Hawk said on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

Perloff said on his show he would rather have seen the Texans come to Arrowhead Stadium.

This is a high-powered matchup, writes Kevin Patra of NFL.com.

“Pitting the perennial AFC powers always made the most sense as K.C. kicks off a campaign in search of a third consecutive Super Bowl title and its fourth Lombardi in six seasons,” Patra wrote. “Lamar Jackson and a bulldozing Derrick Henry squares off against a Steve Spagnuolo defense that pestered the former MVP quarterback in the title game. A revamped Ravens defense faces Patrick Mahomes and a Chiefs offense that got a booster charge of speed at the receiver position this offseason.

“The matchup offers pizzazz, explosiveness and big-name stardom worthy of a season opener.”

David Carr said on the NFL Network the Chiefs-Ravens opener is great for the league.