KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For nearly four years, Lamar Jackson has been trying to survive the one time he called the Kansas City Chiefs the Baltimore Ravens’ kryptonite. And in that same span, the franchise has been trying to minimize the number of times Jackson has to shoulder the Superman burden to keep the Ravens neck and neck with their AFC rival.

Yet here we are again after Thursday night’s NFL season opener, with Kansas City once again assuming the role of Baltimore’s kryptonite, and Jackson once again having to don a cape and play the role of superhero to keep the Ravens in contention with the Chiefs. All with a familiar outcome of defeat for Jackson and Baltimore, this time via a 27-20 Kansas City victory that was literally sealed for the Chiefs by the length of a single out-of-bounds toe as time expired in the fourth quarter.

The defining moment of a game rarely comes closer than what happened at Arrowhead Stadium, where Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely caught a potential game-tying touchdown with time expiring, only to have the score overturned when a review showed the tip of his foot touched the white line at the back of the end zone. It was the narrowest margin in a game the Ravens didn’t play particularly well, visiting one of the toughest stadium environments in the NFL.

From that perspective, the Ravens can take heart. They led the Chiefs until the final second of the game, and the narrowest of margins separated victory from defeat. But in a first week almost always plagued by overanalysis, Thursday night also offers the first potential overreaction, in the form of a question worth asking just because it’s so familiar:

Is the Ravens’ reliance on Jackson as Superman in games like this a sustainable offensive strategy?

Before we get into that, let me say it again: This is Week 1, and we rarely get a completely accurate picture of an NFL team after a season-opener loss. Especially not teams with good talent, good coaching, and a good quarterback. The Ravens have all of those things, so there’s every reason to give them a few weeks (or even months) to fully realize their schedule ambitions. But we can do that while still being realistic along the way. And to do that, we need to look at their first attempt at a balanced offense on Thursday.

Yes, it was even. But largely because of the creative acumen of Jackson, who repeatedly had to extend plays while passing for 273 yards and a touchdown and also ran 16 times for 122 yards. To put it succinctly: He was the Ravens’ entire offensive line.

It’s something the team has been trying to break for years. Not because Jackson isn’t up to the task, but because the model has historically proven unsustainable. Either because Jackson takes too much physical punishment or because the Ravens fall flat in key postseason moments when he can’t be perfect. The final 20 seconds of Thursday’s game were a prime example of those pitfalls, with Jackson missing Likely on what appeared to be a touchdown opportunity, then throwing a ball between two wideouts in the back of the end zone while he was moving, missing a advancing Rashod Bateman and a wide-open Zay Flowers. And finally, when Jackson made the throw he absolutely needed with time running out, the Ravens fell victim to Likely toeing out of bounds.

That need for perfection and consistent playmaking from Jackson is what I was thinking as I watched Baltimore on Thursday. That the way the offense operated — almost completely shutting down running back Derrick Henry in the second half — is not what the Ravens are trying to achieve from a balance or roster-building standpoint. While this was a game that unfolded in a way that required Jackson to take charge in some way at almost every key moment, the ongoing hope should be to minimize that need. Ultimately, it invites the kind of meltdown that occurred toward the end against the Chiefs.

Is this just a one-game overreaction? Perhaps. It seemed the Ravens didn’t think a definitive statement could be made about the loss — especially after Baltimore refused to give up despite trailing 27-17 with five minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Ravens had committed a slew of costly penalties, lost the ball, fallen into a hole that blocked Henry’s play-calling and endured long stretches of mediocrity on offense.

But Jackson also showed his trademark dynamic play when creating on the run, something he clearly wanted to lean on after dropping to what he believes is a quicker, faster weight. He also showed exceptional groove with Likely, the team’s third-year tight end who has shown flashes of developing into a major weapon.

“The adversity during the game was a challenge … and we fought like crazy to overcome it,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Thursday night. “I’m proud of the way the guys fought. We’re only going to get better from here. I’m looking forward to it.”

“It was a great performance by Lamar,” added linebacker Roquan Smith. “Personally, as a defense, we should have never put him in that position to come back like that. Kudos to him. There’s a reason he’s a two-time MVP, but as a defense, we should have never put those guys in that position. … This is the worst we’re going to play this season. I can promise you that.”

That was Jackson’s sentiment, too — that the offense is still in an adjustment period and that the Ravens will find a way to win games like Thursday’s as everyone settles into their roles. There was no frustration about carrying the brunt of the offensive load, only encouragement that the Ravens weren’t playing particularly well but still pushed the Chiefs to the final moment at Arrowhead Stadium. That … and a message Jackson wanted to drive home when a reporter brought up his earlier comments about Kansas City being Baltimore’s kryptonite.

“They’re not my kryptonite,” Jackson said, interrupting the reporter’s question and then repeating it a second time. “They’re not my kryptonite.”

On Thursday night, the scoreboard suggested otherwise once again. Just as Jackson’s performance suggested he’s still being counted on to be Superman, the offense should be protecting him with more balance. We’ll see if it was an anomaly in Week 1 or a sign of things to come as the season progresses.