We’ve waited so long for the NFL to kickoff the 2024 regular season, but it looks like we might have to wait just a little longer.
Less than an hour before the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens were set to kick off the new campaign at Arrowhead Stadium, it was announced that the game would be delayed due to the brutal weather sweeping through the KC area.
As lightning and thunder struck near the stadium, the players were ushered off the field and back to their respective locker rooms. The fans were also told to leave their seats and find cover in the concourse, as a notice appeared on the Arrowhead video board.
𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: Lightning and thunder struck Arrowhead; the players cleared the field.
Warmups delayed. https://t.co/1g1c6f8DCZ pic.twitter.com/VOCsrjhduk
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 5, 2024
Videos have since surfaced online showing the torrential downpours that are covering the field in water.
🚨THE RAIN IS FALLING HARD AT ARROWHEAD.#CHIEFS–#RAVENS KICKOFF IS EXPECTED TO BE DELAYED, being that all the players have cleared the field from warmups.
pic.twitter.com/LyRD7UNwXF— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 5, 2024
There’s no word yet on how long this delay will be, but if this weather keeps up, it could be some time before we finally get things going.
NFL Kickoff Game Features A Rematch Of Last Year’s AFC Championship Game
The Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens should be quite familiar with each other, as they squared off roughly nine months ago at the AFC Championship Game. The Ravens hosted that contest as the top seed in the conference, but it was Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs who emerged victorious, 17-10.
This time around, it’s the defending Super Bowl champs who have home-field advantage. We’ll see if they can take advantage of it and get out to a 1-0 start, as they look to become the first team in NFL history to three-peat as Super Bowl champions (and the first team since the 1968 Packers to win three league titles in a row).
