The Kansas City Chiefs returned to Arrowhead Stadium to face off against the Baltimore Ravens in their season opener game on Thursday, September 5.
The Chiefs ultimately won the home game in Kansas City, Missouri, with a final score of 27-20. The event served as a rematch of the 2024 AFC Championship in January, at which time the Chiefs beat the Ravens in an upset.
Despite an early touchdown from the Ravens in the first quarter giving them an early lead, the Chiefs hit back with their own and quickly forged ahead. After leading 13-10 by halftime thanks to two field goals, the Chiefs followed up with another touchdown in the third quarter. The teams were neck and neck by the fourth quarter as both teams scored more touchdowns but the Chiefs ultimately finished off with the win.
Earlier this year, the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in overtime during Super Bowl LVIII in February, making them back-to-back champions following their 2023 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ever since, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been teasing the team’s goal of becoming the first in NFL history to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
“It [would be] legendary,” he told reporters of the possibility in February. “No one’s ever done it, and we knew it’s legendary to win back-to-back. I think eight other teams have done it. We had heard it all week. We had talked to the guys [who had gone back-to-back] about it, and we felt like we had the best opportunity that we had ever had to go out there and do that.”
In May, Mahomes, 28, went so far as to guarantee that the Chiefs would achieve a three-peat. “Next year in New Orleans, we’re gonna do it again,” he said on the “Impaulsive With Logan Paul” podcast at the time. “I’m putting it on the table. We’re gonna do it again. I’m telling you now.”
While Mahomes and his teammates celebrated their Super Bowl victory during the offseason, the Chiefs were saddled with a string of controversies while on hiatus. Wide receiver Rashee Rice was arrested in April and charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury after a high-speed car crash in Dallas the month prior. He was also allegedly involved in a nightclub assault in May, though the alleged victim opted not to file charges.
“I’ve learned so much from [the car crash],” Rice, 24, said in June. “All I can do is mature and continue to grow from that. This is a step in a better direction for me.”
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker also incited backlash for a May graduation speech in which he criticized LGBTQIA+ rights, women with careers and IVF, among other issues. Butker, 29, later doubled down on his statements, saying that he did “not regret” sharing his Catholic values with the world despite the response he received.
Other Chiefs players focused on their thriving personal lives over the summer. Patrick and his wife, Brittany Mahomes, announced in July that they are expecting their third baby, while tight end Travis Kelce traveled around the world with girlfriend Taylor Swift amid her Eras Tour, even joining her on stage at a London show in June.
