What we learned: Chiefs 1st team to start 4-0 four straight years, but it wasn’t pretty
Another test produced a passing grade for the Chiefs against the Patriots on Monday Night Football.
At least in the win column, if not in the style department.
The Chiefs looked sluggish on offense but did enough to secure a 26-10 win and improve to 4-0 through the first quarter of the season. Going back to Week 11 of the 2019 regular season, the Chiefs have now won a remarkable 13 consecutive games (regular season and postseason). The Chiefs are also the first team in NFL history to start 4-0 in four straight seasons.
“I thought we made plays when we had to make plays,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We can learn from this and we got to do better in a lot of areas, but it’s tough to win in this league and it’s tough to beat the Patriots in any situation.”
It wasn’t pretty, though, as the Patriots even without Cam Newton, who landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list over the weekend, gave the Chiefs fits despite the play of Brian Hoyer, who was yanked in favor of Jarrett Stidham in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a win in the National Football League and these son of guns are hard to get,” Reid said. “I’ve been on the other end of this where another quarterback comes in and you don’t win the game.”
Here’s what stood out Monday night:
UGLY OFFENSE
Don’t let the final score fool anyone.
After treating a national audience to a masterpiece the week before, the Chiefs sputtered through the first half and didn’t score a touchdown in the first two periods for just the third time since Patrick Mahomes became their starter in 2018.
Perhaps Monday night’s opponent had something to do with it?
The other two times Mahomes didn’t lead the Chiefs to a first-half touchdown came in Week 6 of the 2018 season and the 2018 AFC Championship Game, both against the Patriots.
Coming off an impressive outing last week against the blitz-happy Ravens, the Chiefs’ offense ran into issues against a Patriots unit that appeared to load up on the back end of coverage, often deploying six defensive backs at a time. Kansas City previously had issues against the Texans and Chargers in Week 2, as both those teams utilized a Cover-2 coverage scheme to keep the deep ball out of the game.
“A little similar to what Houston was doing, not so much the Chargers,” Mahomes said. “They played well. When guys were open, it seemed like I wasn’t finding them. I could see it on the tablet after I went to the sideline.
“We were calling plays that were getting guys open. I just got to be able to be the guy to find them and get it to those guys so they can make plays.”
While the Chiefs were able pick up chunk plays in the game, the deep pass, for the most part, was absent. Mahomes finished the game completing 19 of 29 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns for a 113.6 passer rating.
As the saying goes, the NFL is a copycat league.
Blitzing the Chiefs proved disastrous for the Ravens in Week 3 and Mahomes picked that defense apart. By eliminating the big touchdown plays the Chiefs’ offense is known for, the Patriots controlled tempo and kept the game close until the fourth quarter when New England simply couldn’t overcome their own bad quarterback play.
The Chiefs should expect more of the same defensive looks in the next two games, especially when considering the team will end up playing three games in an 11-day span by the end of Week 6.
LIFE WITHOUT JONES
The Chiefs missed the interior pass rush from defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was inactive with a groin injury, and it showed in the first half of the game.
Defensive end Frank Clark produced a sack and a quarterback hit, while cornerback Antonio Hamilton was credited with a quarterback hit through the first two quarters. Clark’s sack occurred as time expired when he killed a Patriots drive deep in the Chiefs’ territory to prevent a potential field goal.
The defense appeared to wake up in the first half with defensive end Taco Charlton producing a strip-sack on Hoyer to end another Patriots’ drive.
For the game, the Chiefs defense finished with two sacks and six quarterback hits. With Jones in Week 3, the defense totaled four sacks and five quarterback hits, two of the sacks credited to Jones.
Nevertheless, Charlton’s play energized the slumbering Chiefs offense. On the change of possession, the Chiefs went on a seven-play, 85-yard drive capped by Mahomes’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill.
The play was a classic Reid misdirection call, with Mahomes taking the snap and rolling to his left. However, Hill went across the grain and took a pitch from Mahomes to score around the right end with pulling left guard Kelechi Osemele and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson leading the way.
Give the assist to the Chiefs’ defense, which saw safety Tyrann Mathieu produce a pick-6 in the fourth quarter, despite the absence of Jones. In total, the Chiefs accounted for four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble recovery).
“The four turnovers ended up being big for us - 14 points off of that,” Reid said.
Mike Pennel filled in for Jones and produced a team-high 10 total tackles.
FENTON BALLS
Whatever concerns there were about the Chiefs’ cornerback group were officially alleviated Monday night in the wake of rookie L’Jarius Sneed (shoulder) landing on injured reserve last week.
The Chiefs went with four corners for the game: Charvarius Ward, Rashad Fenton, Antonio Hamilton and rookie BoPete Keyes. Of the quartet, Fenton proved the baller with three tackles, and interception, a head-turning four pass breakups and a tackle for a loss.
Two of Fenton’s pass breakups were things of beauty in that Fenton showed discipline to not commit a penalty by maintaining body control to reach at the last possible second and knock away passes.
“He had big plays, big interception down the stretch there,” Reid said. “That was a beautiful play. He had a couple of other breakups that were really good.”
His effective play shows the Chiefs are in a good spot once Bashaud Breeland is activated next week after serving a four-game suspension to start the season.
Ward, Breeland and Fenton project as the top cornerbacks for the Chiefs starting in Week 5. And when Sneed returns from injured reserve, look out.
“You can’t have enough of those guys, so you need corners,” Reid said. “Bashaud comes back this week, so it’ll be good to get him back in the mix, too.”
KELCE STREAK
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce continues to cement himself as one of the team’s all-time great with consistent production.
With three catches for 70 yards on six targets against the Patriots, Kelce, whose 31st birthday was Monday, now has a reception in 99 straight games, the second-longest streak in team history.
INJURIES
Rookie defensive end Mike Danna left in the first half with a hamstring injury and did not finish the game.
“We’ll have to see how he does there in the next day or so,” Reid said.
UP NEXT
The Chiefs have a short week before hosting the Oakland Raiders Sunday at noon at Arrowhead Stadium.
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 9:11 PM.
