Matthew Berry

The fullback’s second carry came at a surprisingly critical moment. He lost two yards on a 2nd-and-8, helping to lead to a Chiefs punt. Steele clearly has some juice, but he’s going to remain a folk hero change-of-pace option behind Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine for the foreseeable future.

It was a wild night for Bateman, who also committed a pair of penalties. He was nevertheless almost the hero after he got the Ravens inside the red zone with a 38-yard grab in the dying moments. Good stuff, but Bateman seems poised to remain a wind sprint all-star on the outside as Lamar Jackson focuses on the middle of the field.

Flowers’ sixth career 10-target performance featured some really low quality looks from Lamar Jackson, including an L-Jax end zone miss that should have been the game-tying or winning score in the waning seconds. Before that, Flowers drew a pair of DPIs, one of which was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty. He also lost another grab to another illegal formation call. It was that kind of night for the Ravens. Fantasy managers need Flowers’ usage to be more creative, but the Ravens won’t always be facing a front like this. That being said, the Ravens’ protection is undeniably an issue, and could continue to limit Flowers to these shorter looks for the time being. The Raiders and Maxx Crosby are on tap for Week 2.

Smith-Schuster’s lone target was a goal-line look that probably should have been caught. Clearly just a warm body as the Chiefs wait on Hollywood Brown (shoulder) to get healthy, Smith-Schuster can remain safely left on waiver wires.

With the Ravens spending most of the game playing (closely) from behind and Rasheen Ali stashed on I.R. beforehand, Hill dominated third downs and posted a new career high for receptions. Derrick Henry still out-carried Hill 13-1. It was an uncreative game plan for the Ravens facing an imposing front with a shaky offensive line. Hill probably isn’t normally going to command this many checkdowns, but tonight’s performance makes him worth a PPR looksee as a bench stash.

Seemingly still learning the Chiefs’ offense, Perine did not tally a carry. A bad night, but it’s difficult to say how much of it was Perine’s late arrival vs. the Chiefs’ faith in Isiah Pacheco. Perine still played plenty of third downs, while the Chiefs spent most of the evening with the lead. Keep Perine stashed in deeper PPR leagues if you can ahead of Week 2 against the Bengals.

With Samaje Perine still getting up to speed on the Chiefs’ offense, Pacheco dominated backfield routes and drew three targets. His missed connection was an outside look that probably should have been caught, alas. Tonight it was “Samaje who?” but we would not assume Pacheco is out of the woods yet. He does maintain a TD-based RB1 profile for Week 2 in what figures to be a high-scoring grudge match with the Bengals.

Fantasy managers were surely hoping for more than four “opportunities,” but no one can accuse Worthy of not making the most of them. The No. 28 overall pick was cannon shot on his 21-yard jet sweep touchdown in the first quarter. He was somehow left uncovered on his 35-yard score in the fourth quarter. It was a coverage bust, but that will be part of Worthy’s game — he’ll make you pay if you uncork the wrong coverage. Although he will undoubtedly be feast or famine, especially once Hollywood Brown returns, Worthy has already proven his WR4 bonafides and could quickly crash the WR3 ranks.

Kelce had 1-2 of his patented freelance connections with Patrick Mahomes, but his 34 yards would have been his fifth lowest total of 2023. That’s despite playing roughly 90 percent of the Chiefs’ snaps, per PFF’s Nathan Jahnke. Disappointing, but almost certainly just a slow night against an elite defense. Even if Kelce plays fewer snaps against the Bengals in Week 2, we would expect his targets to go up. He remains a top-three TE1.

Mahomes averaged 10.4 yards per attempt, which would have been his highest in any 2023-24 contest, including the postseason. It wasn’t quite the return of anything goes down-field Mahomes, but he didn’t miss electric rookie Xavier Worthy on a freebie 35-yard touchdown. He also worked some of his freelance magic with Travis Kelce. Like last season, Mahomes relentlessly targeted Rashee Rice over the middle of the field. With Worthy showing off his world-class jets on a pair of scores and Hollywood Brown (shoulder) a week or two away from a return, it certainly seems like Mahomes will have more than one 10-plus YPA performance this season. The Bengals are on tap for Week 2.