Chiefs grades: Flying colors in win over Colts
By Andrew Jones
Offense: A-
The Chiefs offense looked more than solid yesterday. Even having two quarterbacks in and out of the game, the offense still moved the ball well through the air. The Colts stacked the box (only 88 yards rushing) so most of the Chiefs first downs needed to be achieved through the air (16 air, 2 run).
It wasn’t a problem for Foles or Alex Smith who often found a mismatch with Travis Kelce to give him his best game of the season (7, 101, 1). Foles found his favorite target in Tyreek Hill who has definitely emerged as a real threat in this offense. The Chiefs’ opponents will have to start planning against Hill which will continue to open things up for Chris Conley and Jeremy Maclin.
The only struggles in the passing game came in getting Maclin and Conley the ball. Smith targeted Maclin early and often but it wasn’t until this corner fade for a touchdown that the connection actually worked. Conley wasn’t even targeted until after Smith came back from his first head injury. This struggle really became evident when Foles had the Chiefs in the redzone and couldn’t punch it in from the 3-yard line.
Conley was open on the two pass plays and Foles never looked his way. The emergence of Hill and the use of Kelce should open things up outside but Foles needs to go through his progressions to get it to them. This may also be improved as Foles gets more reps this week with the first team.