Kansas
Winners and Losers from Chiefs’ Week 1 Triumph Over Ravens
It wasn’t by as wide of a margin as it could’ve been, but the Kansas City Chiefs opened up their 2024-25 slate with a victory nonetheless.
The back-to-back Super Bowl champs are 1-0 to start the year, securing a dramatic win over the visiting Baltimore Ravens. Thanks to some timely scores and a close touchdown reversal at the end of the game, Andy Reid’s squad got the best of John Harbaugh’s group for the second time this calendar year.
Countless individual performances are worth noting – both good and bad – from the opener. With that in mind, let’s point out some of the Chiefs’ biggest winners and losers from the first week of the regular season.
The Chiefs were without Chris Jones for Week 1 last season, and his absence was evident. The pass rush struggled without him, which certainly would’ve been the case had he missed the inaugural game of the 2024 campaign as well. This time around, the All-Pro defensive tackle made an impact early with a pressure and a run stop on Baltimore’s opening possession. A forced fumble in the second quarter also set Kansas City up for a field goal. Steve Spagnuolo and company allowed Jones to hunt matchups all night and while he wasn’t perfect, he started the year with a bang.
Even with so many other talented players to compete with, there might not be a more polarizing Chief than Nick Bolton. On Thursday night, however, there seemed to be a clear majority outlook on his performance for the first time in quite a while. He didn’t make splash plays in the run game. The fourth-year linebacker was slow to react on multiple plays, also struggling to pursue the action away from his direct assignment. Isaiah Likely’s touchdown, one that saw Bolton whiff on the chance to prevent a score after a pass from Lamar Jackson, was the most obvious mishap. Bolton deserves some slack given the fact that he’s still getting his legs back under him following an elbow injury. With that said, he looked off-pace and out of place in Week 1.
The Chiefs’ first-round pick gave them immediate returns to launch the regular season. Xavier Worthy’s speed is extremely real, as evidenced by his touchdown run in the first quarter. The Texas product also had a solid snag for a first down later in the game, capping things off by making the most of a blown coverage in the fourth quarter and getting another score. While Worthy doesn’t need to get crowned as the next WR1 in Kansas City for simply running to the right spots, it’s clear that he’s a weapon. He dreamed about making an impact, which is exactly what he did against Baltimore.
Following a very strong rookie campaign, safety Chamarri Conner played some uninspiring football in the preseason. That bled into Week 1, where the former Day 3 draft pick missed multiple tackles in the first half and couldn’t come down with an interception on Baltimore’s first drive of the second half. On the Ravens’ penultimate possession, he failed to convert a tackle that would’ve been good for a stop behind the sticks. Conner’s range, closing speed and aggressiveness are all plus traits, although he’ll have to rein things in moving forward and be more efficient.
Even with Worthy in the fold, Rashee Rice picked up right where he left off last season. Looking even shiftier in his movements, the second-year man did plenty of damage over the middle of the field. Finishing with seven receptions for 103 yards, Rice logged 78 of those yards after the catch and had 60 of them against off-coverage. Given Worthy’s speed and tight end Travis Kelce’s gravity, expecting this quality of production every week is realistic. The quantity may not always be there, but Rice remains a key cog in the machine that is the Chiefs’ offense.
Right around training camp time, Spagnuolo hinted at linebacker Leo Chenal playing a few different roles on defense this year. The athletic former third-round pick had opportunities open up due to the departure of Willie Gay Jr., and he capitalized in Week 1. Chenal was excellent at containing Jackson, and a specific two-play sequence of a forced throwaway and a tackle on the next snap stood out. He also had a couple of tipped passes, a staple of the Chiefs’ front seven. Chenal, not necessarily known for his consistency, passed his first test of the year with flying colors.
Read More: Three Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-20 Win Over the Baltimore Ravens
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – After three full days of searching on land and in area waters, the search for 80-year-old Gary Foster has been put on hold.
The Reno County Sheriff’s Office said Foster’s family decided to postpone the search until after the holidays, when efforts will resume as a recovery mission.
Over the last 72 hours, crews launched a large-scale effort involving over 200 people combing a five-mile radius around where he was last seen. The Kansas Highway Patrol searched the area via aircraft, and Saline County provided a water rescue team and sonar to scan nearby ponds.
The Silver Alert for Foster remains in effect.
Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
Kansas
Kansas man charged after leading an Osceola, Mo. police officer on a high-speed chase on Highway 13
ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Mo. (KY3) – A Kansas City, Kansas man has been charged after leading Osceola police in a high-speed pursuit while under the influence.
According to court documents, 43-year-old Marvin Ruiz is charged with DWI and resisting arrest.
Court documents show that on December 21, around 5:30 p.m., an Osceola police officer noticed a Jeep driving south on Highway 13 at 110 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone. The officer then pulled out of the median and saw the Jeep go through it and start driving north on Highway 13.
The officer started chasing the suspect, at one point reaching speeds nearing 121 mph. He was then able to stop the car as it tried to turn back around and go south. The officer got out of his patrol car and drew his gun as he approached the Jeep.
According to court documents, the officer saw Ruiz behind the wheel and noticed his eyes were bloodshot and in a daze.
Moments later, Ruiz put the Jeep in reverse, almost causing several accidents before driving south in the northbound lanes. The officer followed Ruiz going about 70 mph and noticed Ruiz nearly hit other cars head-on.
The officer tried a PIT maneuver in the median to stop Ruiz, but it did not work. Ruiz then went south in the southbound lanes, and the chase speed reached near 110 mph. The officer says Ruiz then slammed on his brakes, causing him to hit the Jeep and spin out. The chase continued through the Lowry City city limits before Ruiz lost control and wrecked near a curve.
According to the officer, he got out of his patrol car and was able to arrest Ruiz. The officer tested Ruiz for alcohol, and his BAC came back to be 0.169.
According to the Osceola Police Department, the officer involved in the chase was Officer French and his K9 Officer Beck.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri State Highway Patrol worked the crash since Ruiz hit the officer’s patrol car.
Ruiz appeared in court on December 23 and entered a not-guilty plea for the incident. He is being held in the St. Clair County Jail without bond. He is set to appear in court again on January 8, 2025.
To report a correction or typo, please email digitalnews@ky3.com. Please include the article info in the subject line of the email.
Copyright 2024 KY3. All rights reserved.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17, in a game they hoped carried a different meaning. Heading into their three-games in 11 days stretch, the black and gold had an opportunity to compete for the top seed in the AFC and claim the AFC North crown.
Now, things aren’t different. They’re fighting to remain the division crown, and will need to beat the Chiefs to keep themselves at the top of the race instead of banking on help from the Baltimore Ravens.
The Buffalo Bills didn’t make that challenge any easier. After going down early in Week 16 against the New England Patriots, it looked as if the Bills were going to give Kansas City and early Christmas present. A loss and the Chiefs claimed home-field advantage in the AFC, which would’ve taken a lot of pressure off them to play injured players like Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones.
Instead, Buffalo climbed their way back and won, keeping the AFC race alive. And heading into Week 17 against the Steelers, it gave Kansas City every ounce of motivation to keep their winning ways alive and beat the Steelers.
The Steelers are 2.5-point underdogs against the Chiefs heading into Week 17. They’ll be looking to get names like George Pickens and DeShon Elliott back on the field, while monitoring a list of Chiefs injuries that includes Jones and offensive tackle D.J. Humphries.
Nothing will come easy this Christmas for Pittsburgh, and thanks to the Bills, their hopes of Carson Wentz and some backups starting at Acrisure Stadium won’t happen. It’ll be good on good for those tuning in for the holiday showdown.
Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI to get all your daily Pittsburgh Steelers news, interviews, breakdowns and more!
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