Chiefs grades: Who shined in win vs. Saints?
By Andrew Jones
The Kansas City Chiefs played well in a win on Sunday against one of the best offenses in the league.
They forced two key turnovers on defense that turned out to be the difference in the six-point win. The offense made big plays during the first half but stayed conservative again in the second half. Here are the grades for each group from the game.
Offense: B
This might upset some Chiefs fans who may think I just can’t be satisfied with a win. Some could say that the defense of the Saints made adjustments. What defense? The Saints allow an average of 34 points per game and that’s without a Drew Brees pick-six. Yet, for the second straight week the Chiefs got conservative in the second half and failed to get the ball into the hands of their playmakers.
Travis Kelce had zero catches in the second half and zero targets. When you have a tight end like Kelce you need to get him the ball. As was pointed out to me last week I am not qualified to grade playcalling since I am not in the game plan. However anyone can see that the head coach and quarterback tend to withdraw in the second half.
One play in the second half that I will commend Alex Smith for was his 18 yard pass outside to Chris Conley. The throw was impressive and the hand strength by Conley was even better. The fact that Alex Smith is throwing downfield on third down proves that he can do it. So why don’t the Chiefs do it more often?
It gives me hope for the future that this team may go on another tear and the offense will evolve and grow. New reliable targets like Conley and Tyreek Hill may ease the coverage on Kelce and Jeremy Maclin. The defenses don’t really get any better until Denver so the Chiefs have four weeks to really explore that capability of this offense. I can’t wait.