You may hear a lot of doom and gloom this week about how the Kansas City Chiefs defense struggled to get off the field (they did), or how the team had too many costly penalties (they did). You’ll hear talk about receivers, offensive linemen, linebackers, and pass rushers (see below).
But, at the end of the day, your Chiefs did what they were supposed to do– flew home from a road game against the Miami Dolphins with a 3-0 record. The better team should prevail, even when they make mistakes. Six weeks
from now, what will we remember: the ugliness or the win?
But alas, this is winners/losers, so we’ll dig a bit deeper and highlight a few who stood out this week.
6 Winners
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes: Wins may or may not be a “QB stat”, but it’s no coincidence that Mahomes just passed Tom Brady on the wins-in-first-decade charts. Mahomes was deadly efficient in this game, with the only blip being a fluke interception off of Rashee Rice’s hands.
Tight end Travis Kelce: Seriously, what is Taylor’s Personal Chef feeding this guy? The Dolphins forgot to cover the nearly 37-year-old, and 48 yards later, Kelce helped set up the offense for an opening-drive touchdown. We thought Kelce’s role would evolve this season, but who could have predicted it would be into the NFL’s best big-play receiver?
Defensive end George Karlaftis: Relentless effort pays off eventually. A tipped pass, a QB hit, a tackle-for-loss, and a couple of pressures weren’t enough for Furious George. No, he had to take it upon himself to basically end the game on his first career interception– a deflection from Chris Jones.
Running back Kenneth Walker III: For the first time in his Chiefs career, he didn’t cross 100 yards from scrimmage. He had to fight for every yard and was stopped on some critical short-yardage plays. But Walker also scored two touchdowns– one running nearly untouched, one on a shovel pass. Those two touchdowns were the only thing that came easy for the Chiefs’ featured back, but they were the difference-maker.
Tight end Noah Gray: It was Kelce’s day again, but Noah Gray also delivered for Patrick Mahomes when called upon. Three big catches, including a tough back shoulder play while blanketed downfield. Hopefully, he can build upon this performance.
Cornerback Mansoor Delane: The rookie returned on Sunday and made his presence felt. The shoulder didn’t seem to be on his mind, as Delane was aggressive as ever. In the second quarter alone, Mansoor Delane ended two drives with a 4th-down pass breakup and a 3rd-down tackle-for-loss.
4 Losers
Note: Applying the labels “losers” is not intended to be a judgment on the talent or character of any of these individuals. It’s just a simple way to grade their job performance in a single game. No disrespect should be inferred.
Defensive back L’Jarius Snead: He made what should have been one of the biggest plays of the game, forcing and recovering a Malik Willis fumble– and it’s not his fault the offense gave the ball right back. But, like the aforementioned linebackers, Snead was a popular target when in coverage. He’s a Spagnuolo favorite, an effective blitzer, and one of the league’s worst corners in pass coverage. It’s a conundrum in the slot.
Linebackers Jack Cochrane and Nick Bolton: The Dolphins saw something they could exploit, and it was these two guys in coverage. Bolton did rack up eleven tackles, but most will remember him getting juked in the backfield on a drive-extending run. The linebacker film room won’t be fun this week.
Wide receiver Xavier Worthy: The good news is that Worthy made a play– a 17-yard catch. The bad news is that Worthy only made that one significant play all afternoon. The Chiefs need more out of number one.
