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Fast Starts, Fantastic Finishes | Arrowheads Abroad
My favorite stat of all these though and a massive hat tip to Steve Spagnuolo and his team for getting the D ready to play.
The Chiefs D in the last 24 games, have forced 15 opening drives of 3 or less plays. That’s 12, 3 and outs and 3 turnovers. That seems a ridiculously high amount and shows that far more often than not, the D comes out firing right from the start.
Winners and Losers of NFL Week 4 | The Ringer
Winner: Patrick Mahomes
For a while, I thought the most impressive thing about Patrick Mahomes was that he could throw the ball really far. And he can! He might be able to throw it farther than anybody else in the NFL, although I’d put money on Josh Allen. There are a lot of other impressive things about Mahomes: His many different arm angles on throws; his ability to throw receivers open; his accuracy on the move, and more.
But I think what it really comes down to is this: At any moment on any play, it’s impossible to know what Patrick Mahomes is going to do. His creativity and improvisation are traits which can be defined by this play, one of five touchdowns the Chiefs scored against the supposedly stout Tampa Bay defense in a 41-31 win Sunday night.
5. Chiefs
General manager Brett Veach isn’t shy about exploring any possible addition to help Patrick Mahomes, who’d surely welcome Beckham’s shiftiness in their creative red-zone packages. Kansas City reportedly sought him in 2021 as well. But other teams can — and likely will — offer a bigger role and pay because of how effortlessly Mahomes incorporates the Chiefs’ current weapons, starting with Travis Kelce.
The run defense is dangerous: With Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense stealing the spotlight on “Sunday Night Football,” it’s easy to forget how dominant Kansas City’s run defense was. The Buccaneers ran for just three yards — yes three — on six carries against a Chiefs front that swarmed to the football throughout the night.
The Chiefs tied the franchise record for the fewest rushing yards allowed and the six carries Tampa Bay had were the fewest against Kansas City in franchise history. Thanks to the Week 4 performance, the Chiefs have the No. 1 run defense in the NFL.
Kansas City will be tested this week against the Raiders, but team’s aren’t trying to run on the Chiefs if that K.C. offense gets off to a strong start with a big, early lead.
2 - Patrick Mahomes
Kansas City Chiefs · QB
Mahomes has faced the No. 1 scoring defense seven times in his career and boasts a 6-1 record after defeating the Buccaneers on Sunday night. The bitter taste of falling to the Bucs the last time he played in Raymond James Stadium — in Super Bowl LV — appeared to be front of mind, as Mahomes looked dialed in from beginning to end. I think Travis Kelce said it best:
“The NFL hasn’t seen anything like Mahomes — I promise you that. You saw it today — he’s the Houdini of our era. The guy just finds ways to make plays throughout the game — big-time third-down, big-time goal-line plays [and] just willing our team to the end zone — willing our team to win. That’s our ultimate leader, man.”
Former Chiefs kicker signs for the Cardinals
The #Cardinals are expected to sign kicker Matt Ammendola, per sources. Arizona had tryouts this week with Matt Prater banged up. Ammendola went 3-of-4 in two games for the Chiefs this year.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 4, 2022
Around the NFL
Pittsburgh Steelers list rookie Kenny Pickett atop quarterback depth chart | ESPN
The Pittsburgh Steelers listed their 2022 first-round pick as the starter on the depth chart — ahead of Mitch Trubisky — for Sunday’s game at the Buffalo Bills.
“I don’t want to dump the responsibility of what transpired at Mitch’s feet,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “That’s not fair to him. He’s played better than that description, but we haven’t. And so in an effort to be better, in an effort to score more points, in an effort to move the ball more fluidly, we decided to go to Kenny in the hope that he would provide a spark for us ... not only in terms of our ability to move the ball, but just in terms of energy.
“And so, hopefully, that’s a catalyst for us as we try to move forward and change the outcome of some of these games.”
Pickett will be the first rookie quarterback to start for the team since undrafted free agent Devlin Hodges started six games in the 2019 season.
Cardinals waive WR Andy Isabella after three-plus underwhelming seasons | NFL.com
After years of trade speculation and rumblings about his future in the desert, wide receiver Andy Isabella’s days with the Arizona Cardinals have come to a rather anticlimactic close.
The Cardinals waived Isabella on Tuesday, signing offensive lineman Billy Price off the Las Vegas Raiders practice squad in a corresponding move, the team announced.
Denver Broncos QB Russell Wilson expects to play Thursday night against Indianapolis Colts | ESPN
Wilson, who had his first three-touchdown game as a Broncos quarterback in Sunday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, has been listed on the team’s lengthy injury report over the last two days. By league rules, though the Broncos have only had walk-through practices, they had to project what players’ statuses would be if they had practiced fully.
As a result, Wilson was listed as limited both Monday and Tuesday. He led the team in rushing Sunday with 29 yards on four carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run. He landed hard on the scoring run as well as on a second-half scramble when he tried to reach the ball past the first-down marker.
“We’re just being smart with him,” Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said.
“Doing good, hanging in there,” Wilson said. “ ... You get banged up a couple times here and there.”
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
Week 5 AP NFL Power Rankings: The Chiefs are back in the top 3
8. Cincinnati Bengals (9th)
The all-whites weren’t as good in real life as I expected.
9. Los Angeles Rams (7th)
This offense is unwatchable.
10. Dallas Cowboys (17th)
A quarterback controversy in Dallas!?
11. Minnesota Vikings (12th)
Thanks to Justin Jefferson, youngsters up and down the United Kingdom are now griddying, badly.
From the Editor’s Show: Isiah Pacheco should be the featured running back
Isiah Pacheco should be the early-down back
Pete: “Clyde Edwards-Helaire is having an excellent year and he’s doing everything you ask of him... I think Isiah Pacheco might be the best early-down back on the team — and I think he might need to touch the ball first... It’s hard to say that and have it not sound like I’m trying to take a side on Pacheco versus CEH... I think Clyde is having a fantastic year and deserves to touch the ball. I just think Isiah Pacheco is the best north and south, hard running back on the team... I’m not choosing Pacheco over CEH. I just think the roles could shift here.”
This was a big win
John: “Tampa Bay is a really good football team. I don’t care that their record was 2-1; the Chiefs’ record was 2-1, too. We need to factor that into how many points the defense gave up; there’s some thought that the defense gave up too many points in this game. Well, yeah, they gave them up to Tom Brady! It’s important as we evaluate what took place in this game that we acknowledge that Tampa Bay is a good football team... The Chiefs beat them in a game where the score didn’t really recognize how dominant they were.”
A tweet to make you think
Alex Smith explained to @PabloTorre what it's really like to be concussed during a game in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/pZBUhHzPNf
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 4, 2022
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