First Move
As last week’s KC Chiefs vs Ravens season opener unfolded, the game started with some questions. Were the Ravens, who bullied the entire NFL (Except the Chiefs) of last year, going to exact revenge on these new 2024 Chiefs? Were these Chiefs going to miss Lajarius Sneed so much that it would cost us an important game to start the season? Was the pre-game celebration in Arrowhead Stadium and the raising of the Championship banner of last year’s Super Bowl going to distract these 2024 Chiefs?
The game started ominously for these Chiefs as we watched the Ravens and their new weapon, Derrick Henry, bully the Chiefs defense and run through them to give the Ravens a 7-0 lead to start the game. Watching, I wondered in anticipation what the Chief’s first move would be.
Surely, we can all relate to first moves. These days, I’m very intrigued by the dating scene. Is today’s first move a swipe? Is it swipe right or left? Growing up, my best first moves were a long walk home. What about the Chess Players? What’s the best first move in Chess; is it moving up that pawn? Or is it best to move that horse up? In the case of our now world-famous Tight End Travis Kelce, who could’ve dreamed that he’d have such success with his first move being a friendship bracelet that he offered to Taylor Swift? Talk about a Boss first-move!
What about when someone makes a mistake? I’ve always believed that what’s most important is the next move. So here were our Chiefs gashed by the Ravens in a way that many thought should have been how the Ravens played the AFC Title game last January. So what happened?
As the Chiefs started the season trailing 7-0 in their defense of the back-to-back titles and their quest for NFL history, the first move that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes dialed up was a beautiful slant to Rashee Rice that went for 10 yards and a first down and just like that the Chiefs were in business. This play worked over and over for the Chiefs as Rice expertly executed these slants all night against the Ravens for huge yards. I don’t want to get too far ahead for Rashee; however, his slants reminded me of the original Rice (Jerry), who mastered the slant reception and Yards after Catch. Our Rice Rashee would end the night with 7 catches for 103 yards.
The opening drive would continue, with MVPat mixing up passes and runs until it came time with 6:02 on the clock in the first quarter. Perhaps you were wondering, as I was, what the first move for our new lightning-fast receiver Xavier Worthy would be. The suspense ended at this moment. At 6:02 Xavier Worthy took a pitch from Patrick Mahomes and scampered 21 yards untouched for a touchdown. It was a beautiful run; if you blinked, you might have missed it. Seriously, Worthy is that fast. Andy Reid had the entire offensive line on the move blocking for Worthy on this play. In fact, it seemed like all of Chiefs Kingdom and every fan in Arrowhead Stadium was blocking for Worthy. You might not have noticed the last block on the play, which excited me. As The Raven’s all-world Linebacker Roquan Smith was bearing down, ready to stop Worthy and, worse for us, cause a fumble. Out of seemingly nowhere sprints Kingsley Suamataia our rookie left tackle all 6-5 and 326 pounds of him. The big guy beats the blazing-fast Worthy to the spot and basically pancakes the Ravens all-pro defender, Roquan Smith, enabling Worthy to finish the Touchdown run. How’s that for a first move for a pair of rookies?
Not to be outdone, our all-world classy Quarterback sprints to congratulate the rookie and then does a thing only he can do. Patrick Mahomes goes to find the ball and secure it for Xavier Worthy to make sure Worthy would keep his first NFL touchdown ball. This is such a classy move by our Quarterback, who has changed life as a Chiefs fan forever!
As we look ahead to this upcoming meeting with the 2024 Cincinnati Bengals, many experts believe that this Bengals team will be a challenge to our Chiefs. This is going to be a fascinating game, where a key match-up will be how our rookie left tackle Suamataia matches up against the Bengals Trey Hendrickson. The other key match-up will be how our Chiefs defense contains a high-powered Bengals offense who is looking to recover from an opening game loss to the Patriots. With 10 days of rest behind these Chiefs, who can wait to see what Andy Reid has cooked up for the first move to put these Bengals on their heels. One thing we can certainly count on is that Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking. Let’s go!