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The Starting 11: The Biggest Takeaways From Week 3’s Revenge of the Backup QBs | The Ringer
Patrick Mahomes is just toying with opposing defenses at this point. Mahomes has been so brilliant this season that it’s easy to take his greatness for granted. The Chiefs quarterback completed 27 of his 37 passes for 374 yards and three passing touchdowns in Kansas City’s 33-28 win over the Ravens on Sunday. Mahomes had his standard collection of jaw-dropping throws, but his most impressive move of the day wasn’t even a pass. On a second-and-11 in the first quarter, Mahomes took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to LeSean McCoy, and hid the ball behind his leg before hitting a wide-open Travis Kelce in the middle of the field. We’ve gotten to a point where Mahomes is so damn good that he’s riffing just to keep things interesting.
Through three games, the reigning MVP is averaging a mind-boggling 398 passing yards per game. He’s currently on track to throw for more than 6,300 yards and 53 touchdown passes on the season. The Chiefs are making this stuff look easy—and it’s decidedly not.
Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs Are the NFL’s Equivalent to Steph Curry’s Warriors | Fox Sports
“Patrick Mahomes is becoming Steph Curry and shifting the paradigm… Mahomes is putting up frightening numbers and when they pass the midfield stripe it feels like they’re in the red zone. Everybody in the NBA woke up one morning and said ‘You can just shoot threes and win a championships?’ I wonder if Bill Belichick is thinking ‘We have better special teams than Kansas City, significantly better defense, better coaching, and we’re better across the board, we just can’t stop HIM.’”
In response to an article link posted by The Athletic Kansas City that said Mahomes “has thrown 36% of Troy Aikman’s career touchdowns, in about 8% of the games,” Aikman, now the lead analyst for FOX Sports, fired back.
”iCYMI: Talk to me when when (sic) he has 33% of my Super Bowl Titles,” Aikman wrote Monday night.
Aikman is a three-time Super Bowl champion, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In his 12-year career, all with the Cowboys, Aikman completed 61.5% of his passes for 32, 942 yards, 165 touchdowns, and 141 interceptions.
Mahomes, only 24 and playing in his third season, has completed 66.8% of his passes for 6,576 yards, 60 touchdowns, and only 13 interceptions. He has played in only 20 regular-season games in his career.
Mahomes shows Jackson he still has a way to go
The biggest takeaway from Sunday, however, was the reminder of just what a phenom Mahomes is, as he spearheaded a 33-28 win.
The hype that has accompanied Jackson’s start to this season might sound similar to that which greeted Mahomes’ breakthrough last year, Baker Mayfield’s towards the back end of last season, or perhaps Jones’ in the weeks to come.
The reality on the field, however, is that Mahomes is in a league of his own among the NFL’s young, or indeed old, quarterbacks.
The 24-year-old threw for three touchdowns and more than 370 yards, both marks that he has now hit for three weeks in a row.
Already this year he has 200 more passing yards than any other quarterback. He is the best, bar none.
Pretenders or Contenders: Weighing in all eight undefeated NFL teams after Week 3 | PFF
Kansas City Chiefs
Why fans should be concerned
Their secondary looks to be an issue once again. No Chiefs cornerback or safety on the roster has produced a PFF coverage grade of 70.0 or higher through three weeks. Charvarius Ward has allowed 186 receiving yards on throws into his coverage, the 14th-most among cornerbacks in the NFL so far this season. This was their undoing in the playoffs a year ago, and while their offense will keep them in contention, their season could have a frustratingly similar end in 2019 if they don’t improve on the back end.
NFL Rookie Power Rankings Week 4: Redskins, Jaguars rookies making a big impact | CBS Sports
Honorable Mention
Green Bay Packers defensive lineman Rashan Gary showed great ability against Denver. He recorded four tackles and a sack in his first game of the season. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson found the end zone. Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard accounted for 128 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman will find himself on this list soon enough if he continues making plays in the absence of Tyreek Hill. There have been so many young receivers making plays early this season that it is difficult to justify Hardman being present. Bears running back David Montgomery is not far from making the list either.
Patriots? Chiefs? Cowboys? - Who will be the last unbeaten NFL team standing? | Yahoo Sports
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (3-0)
Upcoming games: @ Lions, vs Colts, vs Texans, @ Broncos, vs Packers, vs Vikings
Reigning MVP Mahomes and the Chiefs offense looks even better than it did in 2018 but they have a tricky run of games coming up against teams with playoff aspirations.
A Week 7 Thursday night trip to the Denver Broncos might spell the end of their unbeaten run. Vic Fangio’s 0-3 team could conceivably be 2-1 now and Von Miller and Bradley Chubb have to get it together eventually, right?
Lamar Jackson, Daniel Jones, Josh Allen among first/second-year QB headliners | NFL.com
Michael Robinson
Josh Allen has made me a believer in 2019
I love the Bills, so I’m taking Josh Allen. He’s a big guy who is athletic and has a strong arm. His game is comparable to Patrick Mahomes’, and he has a fighter’s mentality, having orchestrated a major comeback against the division rival Jets in Week 1. He embodies what Buffalo is all about and has the skill set to play in any scheme on any team in any weather.
Offensive Shootout Between Chiefs And Lions? | Sports Betting Dime
The Chiefs offense is one of the best in the NFL, but it’s also covered up the team’s defensive woes at the same time.
Both the Chiefs and Lions in the bottom ten in yards allowed per game. Kansas City is giving up 395.7 all purpose yards per game, while the Lions are not far away at 394.7 heading into their Week 4 clash
That is why BetOnline set an opening total of 54.0 for Sunday’s game at Ford Field. The total opened at 53, and immediately increased a point on Monday.
That is a ton of points for an NFL total, but the Chiefs are currently averaging 33.7 points for per game this season. The Lions are only at a modest 22.3 points per game, but have scored 27 points in two of three games this year.
Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em Week 4: Smart Sleepers to Exploit and Lineup Advice | Bleacher Report
Smart Sleeper: Matthew Stafford vs. Kansas City Chiefs (51 Percent Owned)
Matthew Stafford will likely rack up big numbers against the Kansas City Chiefs because it’s imperative to do so when attempting to keep pace with the AFC juggernaut. He may also elevate his passing statistics in a blowout loss.
Whatever the case, the Chiefs offense will force the Detroit Lions to take an aggressive approach in putting points on the scoreboard. At home, Stafford should feel comfortable slinging the ball all over the field.
Stafford’s passing yard totals have trended in the wrong direction through the first three weeks (385, 245, 201), which explains his widespread availability in Yahoo leagues. The strong-armed quarterback must prepare to score at least 31 points against a team averaging 33.7 per game.
Secondly, Stafford has the weapons to move the ball downfield with Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones Jr., Danny Amendola and T.J. Hockenson on the perimeter along with Kerryon Johnson out of the backfield.
Around the league
Pats lose key cog in offense, put Develin on IR | ESPN
The New England Patriots, who are one of the few teams in the NFL to still feature the fullback position, sustained a blow to their offense Monday when James Develin was placed on injured reserve.
Develin, who was the AFC’s fullback in the 2017 Pro Bowl, had suffered a neck injury in the team’s Week 2 victory over Miami.
Why you should or shouldn’t buy the hype on 4 young NFL quarterbacks | SB Nation
Not yet, but maybe soon: Teddy Bridgewater, Saints
You have to play with composure and purpose in Seattle to win, and the Saints did that on Sunday. They had an advantageous gameplan for Bridgewater: moving the pocket, screens, and relying on their big bodies up front. Bridgewater’s numbers weren’t eye-popping (19 of 27 for 177 yards and two touchdowns), but he was efficient enough on the road. It also helps when you score twice outside of the offense, like the Saints did with a fumble return and a punt return.
I’m not quite jumping on the hype train with Bridgewater because of what I just mentioned. It was an efficient performance, but it was nothing to get excited about. He didn’t need to be challenged as the Saints were ahead for most of the game. Bridgewater wasn’t asked to drive the ball downfield or carry the weight of the offense. He will need to do more moving forward.
Aaron Rodgers: Packers’ offense must ‘do our part’ | NFL.com
“We’ve never wanted to just manage the football game around here,” Rodgers added, per Demovsky. “The standards are very high for us. We’ve got to play a lot better on offense. We’ve played some good defenses, no doubt about it, but the standard and expectations are very high here, and we haven’t met them on offense. Thankfully, our defense has not only been opportunistic but stout, holding them to field goals in the red zone, taking the ball away, putting us in good field position.”
In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride
Week 4 NFL power rankings: for the Chiefs, it’s almost unanimous
Mile High Report: 2
(unchanged from 2)
Because of the Broncos game I didn’t get a chance to watch [the Ravens-Chiefs game] live, but it will be fascinating to break down how the Chiefs defense managed to slow down Jackson. On the other side of the ball, it sure is starting to look like the “he only played one year” crowd is going to need to find something else to critique.
Let’s Argue: “The Chiefs don’t need Tyreek Hill”
To me, this is a very interesting take — and poses an even greater question: should the Chiefs trade Hill for Jalen Ramsey?
The more I think about it, the harder it is to deny the logic. Have the Chiefs proven they are the NFL’s best offense even without Hill? Yes. Are the Chiefs deep at wide receiver and thin at cornerback? Yes. Would Ramsey give the Chiefs a better chance to win the Super Bowl? Absolutely. The team would even have more money to give Ramsey the contract he wants if they traded Hill for him.
Despite all those great points, I don’t think they should trade Hill. Maybe the team doesn’t need Tyreek Hill, but players like him do not grow on trees. I don’t think you let a once-in-a-generational talent go unless you’re desperate — and for now, the Chiefs are far from desperate.
Besides... imagine how unstoppable they’ll be when Hill returns.
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