Arrowheadlines: As it stands, Patrick Mahomes is an ‘overqualified game manager’

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NFL Week 2 overreactions: Chiefs going to miss playoffs? Passing yards don’t matter with Hurts? | CBS Sports

The Chiefs will miss the playoffs

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Hard to believe this is a conversation, but this is the reality when the Chiefs are 0-2 to start a season (the first time for the Chiefs since 2014). The last time the Chiefs started 0-2 under Andy Reid, they finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Kansas City has never lost three straight games under Patrick Mahomes (including

postseason).

Starting 0-2 for a season isn’t a good sign for the postseason, as just 12.2% of teams since 1990 have made the postseaosn after an 0-2 start. The percentage isn’t any better under the 14-team format either, as it’s just 12.2%.

Perhaps it’s just the good teams the Chiefs are playing, but Kansas City just appears to be good enough to rally and make the playoffs. They have Andy Reid as head coach and Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, and are missing Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy. The defense is still good and there’s a lot of talent and leadership on both sides of the ball.

The Chiefs will be fine, but it’s fair to ponder if they can quickly recover from this start.

NFL Week 2: Biggest questions, takeaways for every game | ESPN

What to make of the QB performance: Mahomes was basically an overqualified game manager in the second half of Sunday’s game. Without Worthy and Rashee Rice (suspended), Mahomes had to be excellent using the Chiefs’ quick-passing game. He finished with 187 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. He is also playing alongside rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and new left guard Kingsley Suamataia. At running back, Hunt no longer has burst, and starter Isiah Pacheco had just two attempts that gained 5 or more yards. Mahomes’ 13-yard scramble capped the Chiefs’ lone first-half touchdown drive. — Nate Taylor

Omarr Norman-Lott got his first sack of his professional career

Travis Kelce Wasn’t Ready To Retire After Super Bowl Loss: ‘I’ve Got a Lot To Prove’ | FOX Sports

Given his successful podcast and relationship with Taylor Swift, many Chiefs fans didn’t think Travis Kelce would be back after losing the Super Bowl to the Eagles.

“Really?!” Kelce told FOX Sports’ Erin Andrews in response to that. “You guys didn’t think I was going to come back? No way.”

“I love what I do. I’m still a kid on Sundays who enjoys every single aspect of the game. I’ve built a family here. I don’t wanna give that up yet. I still feel like I’ve got a lot to prove.”

Chiefs stars send clear Rashee Rice message with bold pregame statement | Arrowhead Addict

As the Chiefs entered Arrowhead Stadium to get their final practice reps in before hosting the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton were two of Kansas City’s players sporting a “Free 4” t-shirt, with four being Rice’s jersey number.

Around the NFL

Jets QB Justin Fields suffers concussion in loss to Bills | NFL.com

After being sacked by Joey Bosa, Fields was checked out in the injury tent on the Jets’ sideline and emerged several minutes later with a towel over his head. The quarterback then walked inside to the locker room for further evaluation.

Tyrod Taylor replaced Fields with 12:03 remaining in the game and the Jets losing 30-3.

Fields and the Jets’ offense struggled mightily against Buffalo. He was only 3 of 11 for 27 yards before leaving the game. Fields also ran for 49 yards on five carries.

Taylor went 7 of 11 for 56 yards and a touchdown to Jeremy Ruckert in place of Fields.

Joe Burrow injures toe but Jake Browning rallies Bengals to win | ESPN

Burrow was sacked with 8:36 left in the second quarter of Cincinnati’s home opener. After he was taken down by Jaguars defensive end Arik Armstead, a couple more players piled on top of Cincinnati’s star quarterback. He attempted to gingerly walk to the sideline before he went down on the field and was evaluated by the Bengals’ training staff.

Burrow spent several minutes in the team’s injury tent before heading toward the locker room. After attempting to walk into the tunnel under his own power, he stopped with about 15 yards remaining and threw his arms around two trainers before going the rest of the way. Video taken by the Cincinnati Enquirer showed Burrow entering the locker room with his left shoe removed.

He was ruled out in the third quarter.

Browning finished the game 21 of 32 passing for 241 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He also scored the winning touchdown, leaving over the pile to extend the ball over the goal line with 18 seconds left to lift the Bengals to a 31-27 victory.

Kaleb Johnson kickoff blunder helps Seahawks down Steelers | ESPN

After Seattle took a 17-14 lead early in the quarter on a 54-yard Jason Myers field goal, Pittsburgh’s Kaleb Johnson allowed Myers’ kickoff to bounce over his head and into the end zone. As Johnson ran toward the Steelers’ sideline, apparently believing the play would be called dead, Seattle continued to cover the kick, and backup George Holani fell on the ball before it rolled out of the back of the end zone for a touchdown and a 24-14 Seattle lead.

Cowboys outlast Giants in wild, back-and-forth OT duel as Brandon Aubrey drills four FGs, including 64-yarder | CBS Sports

The sequence of events to get to those field goal drives was absurd. Dallas scored a go-ahead touchdown on a back-shoulder throw to George Pickens with 52 seconds left in the game, and the Giants had no timeouts in their quiver. They needed a touchdown drive to take the lead, and it took them all of 27 seconds to get it as Russell Wilson found Malik Nabers over the top of double coverage for his third touchdown toss of the game.

Alas, that left Dallas enough time to engineer a field goal drive while trailing by three. Aubrey’s kick looked like it would have been good from 70 yards out, as he calmly drilled it through the uprights. The two teams then traded punts on their respective first drives of overtime, and Dallas had its second drive undermined by an offensive pass interference penalty on Pickens and then a third-down drop by Jalen Tolbert. But the Cowboys managed to get the ball back a third time thanks to Donovan Wilson, who picked off Russell Wilson on what seemed like the umpteenth deep shot he took on the afternoon.

Prescott found Pickens for a big gain to get Dallas just outside field goal range, then scrambled up the middle to set up the game-winning kick. He finished the game having completed 38 of 52 passes for 361 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, repeatedly connecting with CeeDee Lamb (9 catches for 112 yards), Jake Ferguson (9 catches for 78 yards) and Pickens (5 catches for 68 yards) as the Cowboys battled back from deficits both early and late.

Prescott was mostly matched throughout the game by Wilson, who bounced back from a game that had fans and analysts alike calling for his job and went 30 of 41 for 450 yards, three touchdowns and the aforementioned interception. He connected on several of his trademark moon balls, finding Nabers (9 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns) and Wan’Dale Robinson (8 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown) for big gains all over the field.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs-Eagles Week 2: Chris Jones on non-calls during tush push plays

While Jones isn’t happy about it, he understands that the defense’s responsibility does not depend on the officials’ performance.

“Sometimes, they can’t get all the calls right,” he offered, “and just because we see it, sometimes the official is 15 to 20 ft away — [and] sometimes, they can miss those small things. We think he jumped multiple times, so an official didn’t see it. So it wasn’t called. You know, we’ve [still] just got to go play the next down.”

In the game’s final tush push, Kansas City defenders believed linebacker Drue Tranquill came out of the pile with the football. Should these teams meet in the Super Bowl for the third time in four seasons, Jones thinks the Chiefs will be more successful than most others against the play.

“We actually stopped it a couple of times today,” he declared. “More than once — even the last one, [when] we thought we had the ball. We stopped them. So if we see them again, hopefully we’re stopping them more.”