Chiefs report card: Reid’s teams win openers. Here’s how they graded out Thursday
The Chiefs know how to start a season. Their 34-20 victory over the Houston Texans Thursday marked their sixth-straight opening game triumph and improved Andy Reid’s record to 7-1 in openers as Kansas City’s coach.
The defending Super Bowl-champion Chiefs made the playoffs in each of the seven years in which they won their first game. Thursday’s victory extended their winning streak to 10 games, dating to last season.
KC STAR OF THE GAME
Add a standout running back to a potent passing offense and you’ve got the 2020 Chiefs. What a debut for first-round draft pick Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who rushed for 138 yards on 25 carries with a highlight-reel 27-yard touchdown run.
Reason to hope: An excellent game by the Chiefs’ defense. After yielding a touchdown drive on the Texans’ second possession, the Chiefs were terrific. With their offense bleeding the clock and putting up points, their defense did its job in keeping Houston off the scoreboard in the second and third quarters ... while the Chiefs scored 31 straight points. This was a much better start for Steve Spagnuolo’s unit than last year’s early returns.
Reason to mope: Nothing on the field. But the injuries piled up. Defensive tackle Khalen Saunders was the first to leave the game, with a dislocated elbow. Later, defensive end Alex Okafor (hamstring) and cornerback Charvarius Ward (fractured hand) left the game, too.
Next: The Chiefs hit the road and take on the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 20. It will be the Chargers’ first game in the new SoFi Stadium.
REPORT CARD
Passing offense: B
Having no preseason games didn’t seem to throw off Patrick Mahomes’ rhythm. He found his favorite targets—Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins — with all of them getting into the end zone. Not having a good game was Demarcus Robinson, who couldn’t come up with two receptions in the end zone. The Texans appeared to have picked off Mahomes in the end zone, but the Chiefs got bailed out by a holding penalty, and Mahomes responded with his third touchdown pass. Not a big passing total game for Mahomes, who finished with 211 yards.
Rushing offense: A
Edwards-Helaire, wow. On the Chiefs’ 91-yard touchdown drive, the LSU product rushed for 40 yards on a variety of tackle-eluding moves. For many Chiefs fans, this was their first opportunity to see Edwards-Helaire in action. And he didn’t disappoint. In the third quarter, he showed a wonderful cutback and great burst on a 27-yard touchdown run that put him over 100 yards for the night. Guard Kelechi Osemele, starting his first game for the Chiefs, looked like the All-Pro he was in Oakland, opening gaps in the running game. The Chiefs excelled at controlling the clock on the ground. By the end of the third quarter, the Chiefs led 24-7 and held a time-of-possession edge of 28 minutes to the Texans’ 17.
Passing defense: A
L’Jarius Sneed was targeted by Houston’s Deshaun Watson early, but the rookie held his own and then came up with a memorable moment in the fourth quarter when he snared the team’s first interception of the season. Tyrann Mathieu applied the pressure, and all Sneed had to do was not drop an easy pick. Watson, who beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead last October, was largely ineffective Thursday night. The Chiefs came up with four sacks, the first a combo job by Chris Jones and Okafor, and kept pressure on Watson all night. Linebacker Dorian O’Daniel recorded the first sack of his career.
Rushing defense: B
A shaky start as the Chiefs surrendered a 19-yard touchdown run to David Johnson to open the scoring. But then the Chiefs buckled down and didn’t let Watson do damage with his legs.
Special teams: A
No big issues. Rookie punter Tommy Townsend couldn’t land a punt inside the 20 on his first attempt, but he nailed his second try and had no issues in holding for Harrison Butker, who banged through a 29-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. Armani Watts turned in a heads-up play, fielding an onside kick and returning it 27 yards.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 10:36 PM.