There were many insightful lessons to be learned from the Baltimore Ravens’ 20-27 loss to the two-time Super Bowl defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night to kick off the 2024 regular season.

In many ways, this game and its ultimate outcome was similar to the Ravens’ losses of the past, but it was encouraging at times and should serve as an example of how competitive and resilient this year’s team will be in the future.

Here are five of the key takeaways from Thursday’s loss.

Ravens are far from finished, but still almost won

The general mood among the Ravens and their fans after this game is, as it should be, marred by the bitterness of defeat. However, they were able to overcome adversity in the form of a horribly one-sided refereeing performance from the first drive through the fourth quarter and literally close a double-digit deficit to the reigning champions by a hair’s breadth in the second half, which is an impressive feat in itself.

“I’m proud of the effort our guys put up,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “How we fought, how we held up, the challenges we had to face just with the game situation and all the things that were going on around the game and obviously the challenge that our opponent presents us with, who is a great opponent, and then the adversity throughout the game is a challenge. I think our guys took all of those things — all of those setbacks at times — and fought like crazy to overcome them. It looked like we had a chance to tie the game or try to win it with a two-point conversion. That didn’t end up happening, but (I’m) proud of how the guys fought. We’re only going to get better from here on out.”

Even with a win, the Ravens wouldn’t have been able to get true revenge for last year’s AFC Championship Game loss in the regular season opener, as their chances of making the Super Bowl weren’t nearly as good. Still, this will be a lesson and a solid litmus test for where they currently stand and what they could be in the future.

Lamar Jackson was sensational and almost led his team to victory

No player seemed more determined to win the game than the reigning league MVP, completing 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown with a 90.8 passer rating and accounting for over 65% of the Ravens’ running game, rushing for 122 yards (the highest running game total of the game).

After being criticized for not using his legs enough in last season’s AFC title game, the leaner and faster Jackson didn’t hesitate to go when needed and opportunities presented themselves. On numerous occasions, broken pass plays or excellent downfield coverage from the Chiefs left him no choice but to step in for his team with running battles for positive gains and first downs.

Pundits will lament that Jackson had a chance to tie the game or lead the team to victory on the two plays before the infamous touchdown, which was ruined by a toe when he sailed the ball over the head of an unmarked Isaiah Likely and then misfired over the middle on the next play. But without his herculean efforts on that drive and throughout the game, the Ravens wouldn’t have even been able to potentially complete a late comeback. He marched the offense 77 yards in 11 plays to the Chiefs’ 10-yard line with one minute and 50 seconds left in the game, with no timeouts, and nearly did it.

Ravens beat themselves more than anything else

As terrible as the officiating was throughout the game, the Ravens also did themselves no favors at times with mistakes and missteps on both sides of the ball. On offense, missed blocks and early blocks by receivers on the perimeter sapped success and prevented longer progress. Most notable and crucial was the mistake by veteran Nelson Agholor, who forgot to block Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie on a fourth down at midcourt, leading to a turnover and ultimately a Chiefs field goal.

The Ravens’ biggest mistake on defense was the result of a clear miscommunication in the secondary that led to a botched coverage that gave Chiefs rookie Xavier Worthy, one of the first-round picks, a completely clear path to score a 35-yard touchdown. On the play, veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey thought he had help from the top of the safety and passed Worthy in zone coverage, only to realize too late that there was no last line of defense.

Safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson entered the game late and also seemed confused by what had happened. Humphrey is being blamed and attacked on social media for the touchdown, but it looks like he is not entirely to blame. Jackson is playing his first season with the Ravens, filling the third safety role that Geno Stone played last year for the most interceptions in the AFC. With him and the rest of the starting defense out of the preseason, some early miscues are understandable but can’t happen at such crucial moments in the game and lead to scoring plays for the opposing team.

Isaiah Likely is developing into a playmaker star

After hitting the home stretch in the second half of last season, the third-year pro picked up right where he left off and then some. Even though home team fans might say otherwise in favor of their explosive rookie wideout, Likely was the most impressive offensive player (other than quarterback) on GEHA Field in the season opener, finishing the game with the most targets (12), receptions (nine), receiving yards (111), one touchdown, and nearly another.

In his second game with over 100 receiving yards and first since his rookie season in the final game of the regular season, Likely was virtually unguardable in this game as he made big gains and first downs all over the field. He was one of the stars of training camp and continued to shine in his first game of the regular season despite being outscored on offense by his three-time Pro Bowl veteran mentor Mark Andrews, 59-53. Likely also made arguably the best block by either team when he sent Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis to the ground on a designed run by Jackson.

He will likely be one of the most popular waiver wire pickups in fantasy football leagues where no one had the foresight to draft him in Week 2. More importantly, he has shown with his performance that he can be very productive on the field at the same time as Andrews.

The offensive line showed a variable but mostly weak performance

The expected “issues” that Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta foresaw for the Ravens’ new blocking unit were evident and appeared early and often against the Chiefs. Jackson was under pressure for much of the night, which prevented him from consistently pushing the ball forward and had to settle for shorter passes. Many of his best plays came from scrambles or situations where he had to buy himself more time to throw.

First-year right guard Daniel Faalele struggled for much of the night, rookie second-round right tackle Roger Rosengarten allowed a strip sack on his first play of the game, and veteran utility lineman Patrick Mekari, who started the game and played most of the snaps at right tackle, was accused by Pro Football Focus of allowing four pressures – the most on his team.

Aside from the wrong penalties for illegal formations, veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley played excellently, but the right side left a lot to be desired. To better protect the run and pass, they need to step up and play better or find the right combination that works, even if that means using the rookie full-time after his early mishap or using fourth-year pro Ben Cleveland as the starter on the right side, where he is a natural compared to Faalele, who was a tackle prior to this year’s training camp.