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Ravens in conflict with officials after knocked down TD against Chiefs
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Ravens in conflict with officials after knocked down TD against Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — After the Baltimore Ravens lost by a toe on Thursday night, quarterback Lamar Jackson could only shake his head.

Jackson said he did not believe officials should have overturned Isaiah Likely’s last-second touchdown, which resulted in a painful 27-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the season opener. An official initially ruled that Likely had gotten both feet in the end zone, which would have allowed Baltimore to win on a two-point conversion, but a replay confirmed that the front of Likely’s right foot touched the white out-of-bounds line.

“I thought it was a touchdown,” Jackson said. “I still think it’s a touchdown.”

Jackson and the Ravens fell 1-5 to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, but they nearly pulled off one of their most exciting comebacks. With five seconds left and on the Kansas City 10-yard line, Jackson stepped into the pocket and ran in a circle before throwing a pass to Likely in the back of the end zone as time expired.

Likely jumped to catch the ball and landed with Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton on his back. The referee raised both hands to signal the touchdown and Likely threw the ball in the air to celebrate.

“The referee looked at me, I look at the referee, and when he called touchdown, I thought that’s what it was,” Likely said. “Then of course we went on to win the game.”

If the touchdown had counted, Baltimore would have been down 27-26 with no time left. The Ravens were about to line up to score two points and try to win the game before the officials changed the call.

“The runner’s toe went out of bounds,” referee Shawn Hochuli announced. “It’s an incomplete pass. The game is over. Kansas City won.”

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he had no clear estimate of whether Likely would play.

“The guys upstairs saw it, so they knew he was gone,” Reid said. “We just waited after that.”

Likely, who finished with career highs of nine catches and 111 yards, appeared to have injured his shoulder after winding up in the corner of the end zone two plays earlier. Jackson then threw an incompletion into the end zone and Likely returned to the field, where he nearly scored the biggest touchdown of his three-year career.

Had the Ravens pulled off an upset, it would have ended the Chiefs’ streak of 23 consecutive victories when they entered the fourth quarter with a lead of 10 or more points.

“At this point, you just have to live with the call,” Likely said. “You have to look at it, obviously watch the film, see where we can get better and not put ourselves in a situation where we’re leaving it up to the refs to be able to call that.”

Ravens middle linebacker Roquan Smith said he was surprised the touchdown was overturned.

“I didn’t think it was enough evidence to overturn it,” Smith said. “But I feel like that’s something the referees are going to have to deal with when the time comes and that’s out of my control.”