KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Ravens showed a lot of heart in a 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, but that desire takes a team only so far in the NFL.

The Ravens need to get more out of their playmakers on both offense and defense to go deep into the postseason. Kansas City will, which is why the Chiefs have won the past two Super Bowl titles and could be the first team in league history to three-peat.

But can the Ravens challenge them?

You try never to put too much importance in the first game because it’s really like a fourth preseason contest, and there are 16 more remaining in the regular season. If the Ravens had won, the entire city of Baltimore would be going crazy Friday morning. But with another loss to Kansas City, you wonder whether the Ravens are going to break this stranglehold now that quarterback Lamar Jackson is 1-5 versus Kansas City.

The Chiefs have four Super Bowl titles, winning in 1969, 2019, 2022 and 2023. They also have Patrick Mahomes, who might be the best quarterback ever and is being compared with the G.O.A.T., Tom Brady. The Chiefs also have coach Andy Reid and his 26-16 postseason record.

Granted, Kansas City will get better, as it did at the end of last season, but where does that leave Baltimore? The Ravens play with a lot of heart and gritty determination, but that might not be good enough in 2024. In all honesty, maybe this season really is a year of minor rebuilding, especially on the interior lines.

“It didn’t happen at the end, but [I’m] proud of the way the guys fought,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We’re only going to get better from here on out, and I’m looking forward to that. We’re looking forward to getting back to work next week and getting ready for the Raiders.”

There is that tough talk again.

It would have been an upset for the Ravens to have won here Thursday night. Arrowhead was buzzing as the Chiefs put up another championship banner, and this stadium was already recognized as the loudest in the NFL. The Ravens came within a toe of possibly pulling off the win as tight end Isaiah Likely’s foot touched the back line of the end zone on the last play of regulation, but that wasn’t good enough.

It never is versus Kansas City, and it wasn’t last year when the Chiefs beat the Ravens, 17-10, in the AFC title game in Baltimore. In the psyche of Baltimore fans, there has to be some serious doubt about whether the Ravens can overtake the Chiefs.

It’s no longer about the AFC North and whether the Ravens can win the division over Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Cincinnati. The road to the championship goes through Kansas City.

It really is that simple.

“We were able to put ourselves in a position to be able to have a chance to win the game, even [when] things weren’t happening in the game — as far as on our side of the ball,” Ravens running back Derrick Henry said. “There are a lot of things we can learn from and a lot of things we can continue to build on, so that’s what you want to do as a team — learn from the mistakes and hit on the positives.”

As the game unfolded, Kansas City stayed true to its system, especially with an offense that is built around Mahomes, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and finished with a passer rating of 101.9.

As for the Ravens, they continue to have a helter-skelter offense. Their best play, despite coordinator Todd Monken being in his second season, is still Jackson running around and making something out of nothing. That’s great to a point, but that doesn’t win championships, either.

Jackson was outstanding, rushing 16 times for 122 yards and completing 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards, including an electrifying scramble and 49-yard touchdown pass to Likely early in the fourth quarter. But he missed three possible touchdown passes throughout the game.

Mahomes makes those kinds of plays, but Jackson doesn’t, especially in big games. Kansas City’s offensive game plan, besides Mahomes, revolves around running back Isiah Pacheco, receiver Rashee Rice and tight end Travis Kelce.

The Ravens featured Jackson and slot receiver Zay Flowers, but most of the other weapons — Likely, fellow tight end Mark Andrews, and receivers Nelson Agholor and Rashod Bateman — were ignored until the second half.

Did the Ravens practice throughout training camp? What happened to Henry, who had only 13 carries for 46 yards? Granted, the Ravens were playing without three starters on the offensive line from a year ago, but why didn’t they move Jackson around more in the pocket instead of allowing him to be pressured up the middle as guards Andrew Vorhees and Daniel Faalale were beaten consistently?

“I definitely won a lot of matchups today; a lot of us did,” Bateman said. “We just have to find ways to execute and get the ball to the playmakers — whatever that looks like.”

Defensively, the Ravens looked lost at times, especially in coverage in the flat where outside linebackers were matched up with running backs. The pass rush was solid, but far from spectacular. Of course, this was Mahomes, who is almost as elusive as Jackson, but the Ravens need to get more out of outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy, Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo.

There were a lot of missed tackles, even some by All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton. Over on the other sideline, Kansas City is coached by longtime defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the Ravens are being led by first-year coordinator Zach Orr.

“We just had some issues with the substitutions back and forth,” Harbaugh said. “They were running different groups on the field and stuff like that. We did have some communication problems. That’s something that we’ll have to iron out for sure. We can be better with that; we will be better with that. [It] wasn’t what we wanted, so we’ll have to improve on that, and we will.”

This isn’t a picture of gloom and doom after one game, but there seems to be a pattern here. The Ravens’ clock management was poor throughout the game and Harbaugh made another poor decision while gambling on a fourth-and-3 at midfield early in the second quarter. We’ve seen that backfire many times throughout his tenure in Baltimore, and it eventually cost the Ravens a field goal, which was a big turning point.

Again, it’s only one game, but this is the same old Ravens team we’ve seen melt down in the postseason. There is ample time to get better, but not a lot. In the second half of the season, the Ravens face stretches in which they play three games in 14 days and then another three in 10.

After watching this team throughout training camp and in the preseason, there were higher expectations than what was on display Thursday night. Unless Jackson puts this team on his back again as he did last season, when he won his second NFL Most Valuable Player Award, the Ravens need to find a different mojo, especially on defense.

It’s great to show heart and be competitive, but that alone doesn’t win championships, especially in Kansas City.

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