Arrowheadlines: Aaron Rodgers suffers injury — unlikely that we will ever see Mahomes vs. Rodgers

The latest

Jets QB Aaron Rodgers feared to have suffered torn Achilles in overtime win over Bills | NFL.com

The four-time Most Valuable Player is believed to have suffered a torn Achilles after getting twisted up awkwardly on a sack during New York’s first drive, head coach Robert Saleh told reporters in his postgame news conference.

“It’s not good,” Saleh said of the injury’s outlook.

A confirmed diagnosis of an Achilles tear, which the Jets expect when he undergoes an MRI on Tuesday, would mean Rodgers is out for the season.

Backup quarterback Zach Wilson, who had an 8-14 record in two seasons starting for Gang Green, entered the game in relief and helmed the Jets the rest of the way during a surprise 22-16 overtime victory.

Saleh, who told reporters his heart was “with Aaron right now and nowhere else,” said Wilson will continue to be the starter moving forward if Rodgers’ injury is indeed confirmed.

Adam Schefter confident Chiefs, Chris Jones will get deal done | Chiefs Wire

ESPN’s Adam Schefter commented on the Chiefs’ ongoing negotiations with defensive lineman Chris Jones in an appearance on the popular Pat McAfee Show that seemed more optimistic than other recent reports.

“It doesn’t matter what anybody says,” Schefter said. “Chris Jones, at some point, is going to get this deal done, and it’s probably going to be rather quick and sudden whether that’s today, tomorrow, next week, next month, whenever. All the talk about being apart… You can close the gap pretty quick.”

Week 2 Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Rankings: Are Puka Nacua and Zay Flowers legit? | CBS Sports

Are any of the Chiefs WRs worth our time?

I was way too high on Skyy Moore in Week 1, ranking him as a top-30 WR. I won’t be making that same mistake in Week 2, after he managed just two targets on 29 routes against the Lions. But it’s not like there was much else to be excited about here. Kadarius Toney earned five targets on his 11 routes, but … well, that was its own, very different disaster, as he had two drops, including one that led directly to a pick-six. If you want to be optimistic about anyone in this receiving corps, it would be rookie Rashee Rice, who ran just 12 routes but was targeted five times, found the end zone, and showed the YAC skills that made him productive in the preseason. I’m not starting anyone in this receiving group besides Travis Kelce, at least until one of these WRs emerges as more than just a rotation player. That may just not happen this season.

Should Bengals, Chiefs, Seahawks be worried after NFL Week 1? | ESPN

Kansas City receivers dropped 10.3% of Mahomes’ passes Thursday night, which is almost triple their career average. In the past, though, that in itself hasn’t disqualified the Chiefs from winning games. Mahomes had dealt with 17 previous games in which his receivers had dropped at least 7% of his pass attempts. He had won all 17 of those games before this matchup with Detroit. In that famous 51-31 divisional round comeback over the Texans, his receivers dropped 14.3% of his passes. It didn’t matter because the Chiefs were otherwise close to perfect on offense.

Even when we don’t consider the drops against the Lions, the Chiefs were far from perfect on offense. If we look at all the plays that didn’t end with a drop, Kansas City generated minus-0.01 EPA per snap on offense in the loss, the eighth-worst mark across Mahomes’ 95 starts as a pro (after removing all the drops from those games as well). The Chiefs generated just 17 first downs and had only five plays of at least 20 yards. Three of them came on the same drive, which produced a touchdown just before halftime. One of the two others was a 41-yard pass interference penalty.

FMIA Week 1: Tagovailoa bursts back as Rams, Browns, 49ers lead surprise-filled NFL weekend | NBC Sports

8. I think Kansas Citians bummed about week one should remember six seasons ago. KC stomped the Patriots 42-27 in Foxboro on opening night, there was gloom-and-doom all over the league about New England, and the champs responded by making it to the Super Bowl.

NFL Team Needs: Prioritizing Every Roster’s Biggest Weaknesses After Week 1 | Bleacher Report

Biggest Weaknesses:

Wide Receiver

Offensive Tackle

Interior Defender

Edge Defender

Safety

Add Now: Edge Carlos Dunlap, Free Agent

It’s not hard to envision Carlos Dunlap’s fit with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was part of their pass-rushing rotation last season and registered four sacks and 20 total pressures. With Charles Omenihu suspended for the first six games of the season, Dunlap would offer pass-rushing support.

2024 Free Agency: WR Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Chiefs are second in the league in 2024 cap space, although a new contract for Chris Jones might change that. But the money leaves open the possibility of the Chiefs getting a little aggressive in free agency.

Right now, they are leaning on a youth movement at wide receiver. Outside of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, the Chiefs are leaning on a bunch of young guys to become consistent threats. Mike Evans would change the dynamic and might be willing to take a discount to play with Patrick Mahomes after going from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield for a season.

Around the NFL

Jakobi Meyers in concussion protocol after 2-TD Raiders debut | ESPN

Meyers was hit in the head by an elbow from Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson as Meyers slipped on the wet grass in the Raiders’ game-sealing drive of their 17-16 Week 1 victory at Empower Field at Mile High. In fact, Jackson being whistled for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty allowed the Raiders to run out the clock, as Meyers was a yard short of a first down near midfield on the third-down play with less than three minutes to play as rain fell.

Before leaving the game, Meyers had a game-high nine catches, on 10 targets, for 81 yards and two touchdowns, the first multi-TD-catch game of his career, as he built an instant chemistry with new Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs Roster: long-term concern about Kansas City’s offense

Wide receiver blocking

One issue the Chiefs had all night was their run-blocking from the wide receivers — particularly from Rashee Rice. With the Chiefs lacking good options at tight ends, they tried to replace their under-center run game by replacing tight ends with more wide receivers but running the same concepts. Teams like the Sean McVay Los Angeles Rams have been successful with this, but it wasn’t working for the Chiefs.

Here, the Chiefs are running a Counter run to the left, motioning tight ends Blake Bell and Noah Gray as the lead blockers away from the offensive linemen. Rice is isolated as the lone receiver to the weak side, and his blocking assignment is set after the snap. If the cornerback bails to a deep zone, he works downfield to block the down safety. However, if the cornerback stays in the flat in Cover 2, Rice has to block the cornerback. On this rep, the cornerback stays in the flat, but Rice works to the safety, which destroys any chance of this run play working.

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