My Chiefs stack team is my best so far, so obviously I had a big interest in this game with Patrick Mahomes, Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce going. The first half was bad though — Rice’s rushing TD got called back, only for Kareem Hunt to get a rushing TD instead, and Mahomes’ only passing TD was also to Hunt. Worse, Mahomes was credited for two picks, one of which bounced off Kelce’s hands.
But as usual, the Chiefs would not be denied in the second half — TDs to Rice and Kelce, a big play to Kelce down the field, and everything was as it should be:
This team is now 7-1, in first place in its league and 86th overall despite not having Rice or Jordan Addison for most of the season. The only negative is the Week 10 byes where the entire team is off, and the fact that it lost Cam Skattebo for the year Sunday. And that there’s half a season left for things to go very wrong.
Mariota looked okay — he’s a lot like Carson Wentz, grizzled veteran backup with some mobility who isn’t terrible, but also isn’t good.
The Redskins backfield is useless. Too much committee, too little blocking.
Terry McLaurin made a nice TD catch at the boundary, barely getting his toes down. I suspect he’ll be a factor in the second half with Jayden Daniels back.
Deebo Samuel had a bad game — just three catches for 11 yards on six targets, including a pick that bounced off his hands.
Mahomes had two picks, but one was Kelce’s fault. He played his usual smooth game, despite a decent pass rush against him. He also had another 30 rushing yards.
Kareem Hunt is a good short-yardage/goal-line back. There’s almost no path now to Isiah Pacheco having value so long as everyone’s healthy. Brashard Smith got three carries, but he’ll do better in games when the Chiefs are behind.
Rashee Rice saw another nine targets, mostly short stuff again, but he scored another TD. Maybe WR5 the rest of the way. Kelce had a big game — he’s still a top-five-ish TE too.
The Chiefs tried to get Xavier Worthy involved with seven targets, but it was mostly short stuff, and he’s not built to run people over near the goal-line. Hollywood Brown saw only one target as Mahomes had just 34 attempts.
Losing patience with based Harrison Butker. He’s not a great FG kicker anymore, the Chiefs go for it a lot on 4th and short and don’t often settle for field goals.
Butker needs to publicly announce additional domestic duties for his wife.