Sunday’s Week 6 action concluded with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City moved to 3-3 on the season with a big 30-17 win — its third multi-score
victory of the season.
Teams other than the Chiefs make mistakes, too
As the game began, the Lions sought to remind Kansas City fans — and the rest of the league — that even top teams with league-leading offenses can make bone-headed mistakes.
In its opening drive, Detroit had its way with the Chiefs’ defense, driving 60 yards on 14 plays. The Lions’ offense looked unstoppable. But the Kansas City defense finally stiffened, forcing a fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Naturally, Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell opted to go for it, calling a play where quarterback Jared Goff went into motion to the left flat, where he caught a pass from running back David Montgomery, who had taken the shotgun snap. Goff scored behind his wide receiver’s block.
But after the officials conferred, a flag was thrown. When he stepped away from under center before the snap, Goff had neglected to set his feet before going into motion — which is required in that situation.
After the penalty, it was fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line — and it appeared that Detroit couldn’t decide whether to send the field goal team onto the field or take another shot at a touchdown. As Goff began appealing to officials for more time on the play clock, they threw the delay-of-game flag — and even Campbell had no stomach for a fourth-and-10 scoring attempt.
These back-to-back mistakes — which any Kansas City fan would have called inexcusable if they had been made by the Chiefs six days earlier — cost the Lions four points. They never recovered from them
And at least in this game, the Chiefs got the penalties under control. Kansas City called for just one penalty — an offside call on Chris Jones. It was declined.
Harrison Butker isn’t out of the doghouse quite yet
Few players have been the recipient of more criticism during the last week than Kansas City’s placekicker, who added an out-of-bounds kickoff to his season-long list of miscues during Week 5’s “Monday Night Football” loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The night didn’t start well for Butker, who badly missed his first kick of the night: an extra-point attempt that was shanked as badly as any kick he has attempted with the Chiefs. In a game against the league’s top offense, it wasn’t unreasonable for fans to be concerned that the missed kick could play a pivotal role in the game’s outcome.
But in the end, it didn’t. Butker easily made his next four kicks — and had no difficulty putting his kickoffs where they needed to be.
Still, he hasn’t been up to the standard we have come to expect from him. He needs to get things under control. And as we have seen before… it’s very likely he will.
Jaylon Moore looked good
When the team announced on Sunday afternoon that starting left tackle Josh Simmons would be questionable for the game for personal reasons — reported to be a family matter in California — there was immediate concern that the Kansas City offense would not be effective without the first-round pick.
Those fears proved groundless. The team’s backup tackle Jaylon Moore made his first start for the team — and played very well. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had the time he needed to make plays, completing 22 of 30 attempts for 257 yards and three touchdowns. That gave him his highest passer rating of the season: 132.2.
And he did so after his family had its third child on Saturday night.
There have been complaints about Moore’s $15 million (AAV) salary. But his acquisition was intended to provide insurance. At first, it was to ensure that the team would have a player who could start at left tackle if it couldn’t secure Simmons in the draft. Once Simmons was on board, Moore was the backup plan if Simmons couldn’t be ready to play this year. And now that Simmons has proven his mettle, Moore provides the normal kind of insurance: to be available if Simmons isn’t.
Like I always used to tell people who complained about the high salary backup quarterback Chase Daniel earned in Kansas City… insurance is expensive. But as the the Chiefs learned in Super Bowls LV and LIX, no insurance can be even more expensive.
