KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed all but four of his passes against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
He was even better when it was a play-action pass.
Mahomes was perfect on all 14 of those attempts, and more than 200 of his 246 yards passing along with one of his two TD passes came after freezing the Dolphins with a fake handoff. The success was representative of two things that have become evident in the Chiefs' 3-0
start: Kenneth Walker III has added some balance to the Chiefs, and Mahomes and his knee are feeling just fine.
Walker, the Super Bowl MVP with Seattle, had another productive day on the ground, running 18 times for 70 yards and a score in Kansas City's 24-10 win over Miami. Mahomes wound up 20 of 24 through the air in the game, and he wasn't sacked once.
“I thought we handled the pass game pretty good,” coach Andy Reid said Monday. “We didn't have a ton of plays. We were in the 40s on that, and normally you're a little higher, the 60s and 70s area. But I thought the way it balanced out, you know, (Walker) was able to still have a productive day in the run game and pass game, but it opened up some things.”
That must have been a refreshing feeling for Kansas City.
When the Chiefs have been at their best with Mahomes at quarterback, they've been able to run the ball at least a little bit. Damien Williams provided some balance during their first Super Bowl title, and Isiah Pacheco did enough to keep defenses honest in back-to-back championship seasons — and neither of them will ever be confused with Walker in the backfield.
But the Chiefs knew the past couple of seasons that their running game — or lack thereof — had been dragging them down, and it was not just because of the production on the ground. Defenses were able to sit back in deep shell coverages, and that allowed them to key on Mahomes, effectively shutting down what had once been one of the league's premier passing games.
That's no longer the case. And it's been noticeable.
“I think people look at the stats and they see the touchdowns that Kenneth has and Emmett (Johnson) when they’re running the ball, and the run game that we’re doing. But I don’t think they really understand how the play-action and the movements and stuff like that has really opened up in our offense," Mahomes said, “and that’s a credit to them. That’s a credit to the offensive line, firing off the ball, run and pass. Something we have to continue to get better at marrying as the year goes on.”
For the third straight week, Mahomes has gotten just about everyone involved in the passing game. He completed 20 passes to eight different players, including each of his top four wide receivers. Rashee Rice led the way with seven catches for 88 yards.
The Chiefs had the ball for only about 25 minutes, and the 49 plays they ran were nearly 20 fewer than Miami. It may be a quibble in the grand scheme of things, but the Chiefs would much rather control the ball throughout the course of a game.
First-round draft pick Mansoor Delane played only a few snaps in the opener before hurting his shoulder while making an interception, and the defensive back dressed but did not play in Week 2. He finally made it through a full game and was everything the Chiefs hoped he'd be as the No. 6 overall selection, finishing with 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass defensed.
The Chiefs' pass rush looked good the first two weeks of the season, but they struggled against fleet-footed Miami quarterback Malik Willis. They logged only one quarterback hit without a sack while allowing Willis to run for a team-high 56 yards.
FS Chamarri Conner (knee) returned to practice last week but did not play Sunday, and Reid said Monday it's looking promising for him to be on the field this weekend in Las Vegas. LT Josh Simmons (back) remains out, with no word on when he'll return to practice.
360 – Walker has run for 360 yards through the Chiefs' first three games. That's second in franchise history to the 401 yards that Kareem Hunt had in 2017 for the most through three games since the AFL-NFL merger.
The Chiefs have beaten the Raiders in nine of the last 11 meetings. But they lost the most recent matchup 14-12 on Jan. 4 in Las Vegas.
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