Tag: season opener

Broncos among candidates to play in NFL’s 2024 season opener

The Broncos are among eight candidates to face the Chiefs in the NFL’s 2024 season opener.

As the defending Super Bowl champions from the 2023 season, the Kansas City Chiefs are now set to host the NFL’s season opener in 2024.

The Chiefs’ list of eight home opponents in 2024 obviously includes the AFC West. That puts the Denver Broncos among the candidates to travel to Kansas City in Week 1.

The Broncos just snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs last season, defeating their division rival 24-9 in late October. But the NFL will probably view other opponents on KC’s schedule as more intriguing candidates for the opener.

In addition to the Justin Herbert-led Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs will also host teams including the Baltimore Ravens (and 2023 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson), the Houston Texans (and young star C.J. Stroud), and the Cincinnati Bengals (and Joe Burrow) in 2024. Burrow is 3-1 against Kansas City in his career, including a 1-1 record in the playoffs.

Russell Wilson is facing an uncertain future in Denver and the Broncos are unlikely to have a QB matchup more intriguing than Jackson, Burrow or Stroud to face off against Mahomes in Week 1. Denver is a candidate for the opener, but probably not a favorite. Here’s the full list of teams the Chiefs are set to host during the 2024 NFL season.

3 observations from Chiefs’ loss to Lions in Week 1

Our @LazarczykLogan breaks down his top three observations from the #Chiefs’ loss to the #Lions on Thursday.

The Kansas City Chiefs suffered their first loss of the NFL’s 2023 season against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. The absence of Travis Kelce and Chris Jones played a part in the Chiefs’ defeat, to be sure, but victory was within their grasp late in the fourth quarter and slipped through Kansas City’s hands in brutal fashion. 

While the team came up short against the Lions, the season is far from over. One loss hardly dooms the Chiefs to irrelevance in 2023, and even though the outcome of the game was disappointing, there remains plenty of time for Kansas City to get back on track to win its second-straight Super Bowl in February.

Good teams lose tough games, and with two of their best players out, the Chiefs were able to hang tough against the upstart Lions to lose by just one point at the end of the matchup.

Check out our top observations from the Week 1 loss:

Can Patrick Mahomes’ Week 1 excellence overcome absence of Chris Jones, Travis Kelce?

With Jones out and Kelce’s status unknown, will Mahomes’ excellence in season openers be enough to earn the #Chiefs a win against the #Lions?

Patrick Mahomes is the NFL’s best quarterback and the things he is able to do for the Kansas City Chiefs when he steps on the field border on the otherworldly.

His dominance in season openers is well-documented, but as he enters his sixth season as Kansas City’s starter, Mahomes faces an adversity he hasn’t yet dealt with to start a campaign; a lack of stars on both sides of the ball.

Defensive lineman Chris Jones is still holding out as he negotiates a new contract with Kansas City, and tight end Travis Kelce suffered an injury in practice on Tuesday. Mahomes’ excellent track record in Week 1 games was featured by Pro Football Focus on Twitter after the news of Kelce’s ailment broke, and it begs the question: Can the reigning MVP overcome without his All-Pro teammates?

Fans have often joked about how much help Mahomes needs to continue winning games at the torrid pace he has established since taking over under center for the Chiefs in 2018, and Thursday’s matchup against the Detroit Lions is sure to be a real test of his mettle.

But, if Mahomes has proven anything, it is that he is adaptable. For this writer’s money, the Super Bowl LVII champions don’t have much to fear unless Mahomes’ time on the field is compromised by injury or ejection.

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How the Chiefs should gameplan for Week 1 vs. Lions

How can the Kansas City #Chiefs come away with a Week 1 victory over the Detroit #Lions?

The regular season is finally here.

As we have in past seasons, we will take an in-depth look at the Kansas City Chiefs’ opponents and discuss what it will take for them to come out on top. Every team provides a unique challenge and will require a different game plan.

First up are the Detroit Lions. Check out our offseason report about the Lions, where you’ll find information about their offseason moves and key players.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s status is in doubt for Thursday vs. Lions

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce’s status is in doubt for Thursday vs. Lions | @LazarczykLogan

Travis Kelce suffered a hyper-extended knee in practice, leaving his status for Thursday up in the air. Several correspondents have provided updates since the incident took place early Tuesday afternoon.

The Athletic’s Nate Taylor posted the background details surrounding the injury after speaking with Chiefs tight end Blake Bell.

“Blake Bell indicated that Travis Kelce’s injury occurred during a red zone period,” said Taylor in a post. “A usual part to the week’s final practice.”

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport posted an update on Kelce and the team’s expectations moving forward.

“Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce’s status is in doubt for Thursday night’s opener vs. the Lions because of his knee injury, but sources tell me and Tom Pelissero it’s not believed to be a long-term injury,” Rapoport reported. “They’ll wait for the swelling to go down and go from there.”

ESPN’s Adam Schefter followed up with early test results from Chiefs team doctors.

“After tests today, the Chiefs believe Travis Kelce’s ACL is intact, per source.” said Schefter in a post. “There is inflammation in his knee, and they will test it again Wednesday to determine his availability for Thursday night vs. the Lions.”

The news initially appears that Kelce is trending towards missing time, significantly diminishing the Chiefs’ chances of success. The positive outlook is that Kelce’s absence will not be prolonged, and he could return earlier than expected.

Alabama dominates Middle Tennessee State 56-7 in season opener

Crimson Tide race out to a 1-0 start after thrashing MTSU

Alabama’s highly anticipated season opener could not have gone any better as the Crimson Tide thrashed Middle Tennessee State 56-7 in Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday evening. Now, all focus will be directed to Texas as the Longhorns come to town next weekend in what will be a top-10 matchup as well as the host of College GameDay.

The Tide’s new coordinators, Kevin Steele and Tommy Rees, both performed very strongly and seem to be a vast improvement from the coordinators Alabama had in 2022. The biggest takeaway of the evening is that Jalen Milroe is the guy. Whatever quarterback controversy there was heading into the evening, No. 4 slammed the door shut on it as he totaled 242 yards and five scores. The skill positions surrounding Milroe also showed a giant leap forward from what we saw a season ago.

The defense looked great for the most part as well as they only gave up one score on the evening. Grad transfer Jaylen Key got into the action early on as he forced the first turnover of the 2023 season before leaving the game with an injury. The status of Malachi Moore and Jaylen Key will be the big question marks heading into next week.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Sam Murphy on Twitter @SamMurphy02.

Ranking Chiefs’ potential opponents for NFL season opener

Our @Nicolas_Roesch ranks the best potential opponents for the #Chiefs’ season opener.

The 2023 NFL schedule will be released on Thursday, May 11.

As the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Thursday night season opener on September 7. With nine possible opponents to choose from, the league is tasked with picking the most intriguing matchup.

Let’s rank the best potential matchups for that opening game:

Peter King floats Broncos as potential Chiefs opponent for NFL season opener

Could the Chiefs host the Broncos in the NFL’s 2023 season opener? Peter King believes that is one of the top five options for Week 1.

In his latest FMIA column on ProFootballTalk.com, Peter King has floated the Denver Broncos as a potential opponent to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL’s 2023 season opener this fall.

King believes Chiefs vs. the Las Vegas Raiders will be the favorite for the opener if the Raiders land Aaron Rodgers. Otherwise, he lists the Philadelphia Eagles (Super Bowl rematch), Broncos, Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers as potential opponents for KC in Week 1.

“Too much will happen between now and early May to have a great idea of the 2023 opener, but that’s what seems logical right now,” King wrote of those potential matchups.

King also floated the idea of the Broncos facing the Los Angeles Rams for last year’s season opener. The NFL ultimately decided on the Rams facing the Buffalo Bills instead.

It’s hard to imagine the NFL putting the Broncos in the season-opening spotlight after last year’s disastrous prime-time schedule for Denver. The league gave the Broncos five prime-time games in 2022, plus two more nationally-televised games (a London game and a Christmas Day game).

Late in the season, even Broncos fans were asking the NFL to flex the team out of prime time to prevent additional embarrassment. The league consented and flexed Denver out of its final prime-time game of the season.

Sean Payton’s arrival does make the team more intriguing, but the NFL’s schedule makers were fooled by the hype around the Broncos in 2022. They seem unlikely to potentially make the same mistake in 2023. Denver will undoubtedly have some prime-time games, but the season opener seems unlikely coming off a 5-12 campaign.

The NFL’s 2023 schedule is expected to be announced in May.

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LSU-Florida State listed as the best Week 1 game in 2023 by On3

The Tigers will look for revenge in what could very well be a matchup between top-five teams to begin the season.

It’s never too early to talk about the next season of college football, is it?

The second iteration of LSU vs. Florida State was chosen as the No. 1 game in Week 1 by On3. There are quite a few storylines for this one. LSU is coming off of an SEC West championship last season and a 10-win season. One of their only losses came to Florida State in the first game of the year.

LSU looked to be down and out of that game in the second half, and then [autotag]Jayden Daniels[/autotag] brought the Tigers all the way back and all LSU needed to tie the game and send it to overtime was a PAT. As we all know, the Tigers missed the extra point and lost the game.

After that, LSU went on a tear and only lost to Tennessee, Texas A&M and Georgia. Florida State used the win over LSU to propel itself to a 10-3 season. It lost three games in a row (Wake Forest, NC State, Clemson) but other than that, they had a phenomenal year.

FSU quarterback Jordan Travis is coming back for his senior season, and this game is gearing up to be an all-time great game in Orlando.

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PHOTOS: LSU takes down Kansas City in Matt McMahon’s debut

The McMahon era started off with a win in Baton Rouge for the Tigers.

The Tigers began the [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] era in Baton Rouge on a high note Wednesday night with a 74-63 win over Kansas City, though it was a bit too close for comfort.

The Roos lost their opener to a Division II program in Lincoln, but they had this one within five with just over five minutes to play. However, LSU ultimately prevailed to avoid a spoiler in McMahon’s first game at the helm.

[autotag]Adam Miller[/autotag], a transfer from Illinois who tore his ACL before last year’s campaign, led the team in scoring with 18 points, while [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], a transfer from Murray State and the defending Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year, finished with a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double.

[autotag]Justice Hill[/autotag], another Murray State transfer, also finished with 13 points in his LSU debut.

The Tigers will need to play better than this moving forward, but a win was a solid way for McMahon to begin his first season. The Tigers next host Arkansas State on Saturday night.

Here were the best photos from the opening win.