Report Card: Chiefs’ defense holds it down in win over Cardinals
The Chiefs improved to 9-1 overall and stayed unbeaten at home in five games at Arrowhead Stadium. Sunday’s 26-14 win pushed their win streak to four.
The recap
Player of the game: Tyreek Hill caught a pair of touchdown passes as part of a seven-catch, 117-yard receiving performance. He also rushed for 20 yards on his only carry of the day.
Reason to hope: The Chiefs did not fall victim to the letdown game with a big showdown against the Los Angeles Rams looming next week in Mexico City. They handled their business at home against a two-win team and built an early lead with 20 first-half points.
Reason to mope: The Chiefs played with starters sidelined on each side of the ball in wide receiver Sammy Watkins and linebacker Anthony Hitchens. Their health will remain a concern this week. The Chiefs saw quarterback Patrick Mahomes get sacked five times and hit seven times. This doesn’t exactly bode well with the Rams up next. L.A. also his some top-flight talent along its defensive front.
Looking ahead: The Chiefs must flip the page and get ready to take on the Rams on Monday Night Football. The Rams, like the Chiefs, feature one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL and are a potential Super Bowl team out of the NFC.
Report card
Rushing offense: B-. The Cardinals were able to blow up several run plays and force negative yardage (five tackles for a loss aside from sacks), but the Chiefs still managed to rush for 118 yards. They averaged 5.1 yards per carry, and they punched in a touchdown run when needed. Kareem Hunt ran for a team-high 71 yards on 16 carries. Mahomes contributed by getting yards on rollout passes or scrambles.
Passing offense: C. After starting the game with a pair of big gains to Tyreek Hill, the passing game produced a relatively limited number of big plays compared to what it has done in other games this season. Mahomes threw for a pair of touchdowns and completed 21 of 28 passes for 249 yards, but he also got sacked five times (loss of 37 yards), and the Cardinals created traffic around him in the pocket throughout the game.
Rushing defense: B+. The Cardinals certainly made running the ball a big part of their game plan. David Johnson got the ball early and often. Johnson rushed for 98 yards on 21 carries, but the Cardinals managed just 94 rushing yards total and did not have a run of more than 11 yards.
Passing defense: A. The Chiefs succeeded in putting pressure on Cardinals rookie quarterback Josh Rosen throughout the game. While Rosen threw a touchdown pass, the Chiefs sacked him five times and hit him 13 times while holding him to 208 passing yards and forcing him into two interceptions. Running back David Johnson led the Cardinals in receptions (seven) and yards (85).
Special teams: C-. The Chiefs did not get beat by the early onside-kick gamble by the Cardinals. They minimized the Cardinals’ punt returns. Kick returns did yield some significant yardage for the Cardinals. Chiefs kick return man Tremon Smith had much more modest gains than in recent games. Demetrius Harris’ block in the back wiped away a big punt return for what would’ve been a TD by Tyreek Hill in the fourth quarter.
Coaching: B-. The defensive game plan appeared to be on the mark. The Chiefs harassed the rookie quarterback Rosen, applied pressure in various ways, forced him to commit two turnovers and did a great job minimizing the damage done by primary receiving weapon Larry Fitzgerald. Offensively, the Chiefs exploited matchups and vulnerabilities in coverage. However, they also allowed Mahomes to get beat up a little by the pass rush. Penalties remained a losing battle for the Chiefs. They gave up 63 yards on eight penalties, while the Cardinals yielded 30 yards in penalties on just three infractions.
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
