[Baltimore Sun] Isaiah Likely’s career day nearly led Ravens to comeback victory vs. Chiefs: ‘He was just open’
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The Ravens had one more chance. Lamar Jackson knew who to go to.
Jackson darted around the pocket, evading defenders to give his receivers enough time to get open. Isaiah Likely wasn’t, but it didn’t matter. The quarterback placed a throw where only the tight end could reach it.
He hauled it in, then looked at the back judge staring back at him in — he thought — the end zone. But there was white paint under his toe. No touchdown, they ruled. Game over.
“That’s on me,” Likely said. “I gotta get both feet in.”
“I thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “Still think it was a touchdown.”
“I didn’t think it was enough evidence to overturn it,” linebacker Roquan Smith said. “That’ll be something that the refs will have to deal with.”
Likely’s heroics were almost enough in the Ravens’ 27-20 season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The tight end was the star of the unfavorable result, confirming the hype he spread with an impressive summer and stamping himself as perhaps Jackson’s most dependable target.
The 24-year-old led the Ravens with nine catches for 111 yards, highlighted by a 49-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to pull his team within one score. He was a popular option on the final drive, which he exited briefly after coming down hard on an incompletion. But he returned one play later and nearly evened the score.
“It’s the last play of the game,” Likely said. “Would you wanna be out?”
The tight end’s long fourth-quarter touchdown impressed himself, but onlookers even more. Likely knew he had to make Zay Flowers’ key block worthwhile, so he darted around defenders until he had just one between him and the end zone, who Likely wanted to “see how good his brakes was” with a subtle step-back move in front of the goal line. Jackson likened it to a similar move the quarterback once put on a defender in high school but admitted Likely topped his.
ISAIAH LIKELY HIT THE LAMAR JUKE pic.twitter.com/5uZpSDXJL9
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 6, 2024
Likely surpassed 100 yards just once in his career before Thursday and never reached 111. Nine catches is also a career high.
Jackson ran more in the defeat, displayed his new slimmer frame and was unafraid to lower his shoulder for extra yards. But when he did have time to scan the field behind an inexperienced offensive line, Jackson often lasered on his No. 2 tight end.
“He was just open,” the quarterback said.
Likely’s position-mate Mark Andrews was largely silent Thursday. The All-Pro finished with just 14 yards, his fewest since 2022, on two catches, seven fewer than Likely, and was never a focal point for Jackson and the offense.
Andrews was never targeted near the goal line or in the end zone. It was instead Likely who garnered those opportunities and proved why more two-tight-end sets could be in the Ravens’ future.
“Isaiah played just a great football game,” coach John Harbaugh said. “So many plays, especially down the stretch.”
Likely had two catches for 16 yards in the Ravens’ postseason loss to Kansas City in January. He was a non-factor for an offense that sputtered. Thursday, he was the spark that powered it. Baltimore’s offense had other faults that Jackson and Likely masked. If those can be cleaned up, Likely thinks, the next outcome will be different.
“This is the worst game we’re gonna play all year,” Likely said. “If this is the best that they got, good luck in the postseason.”
Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely, center, celebrates after scoring a 49-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter Thursday night. (Charlie Riedel/AP)
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