Redskins vs. Chiefs: Winners and Losers from Monday Night Football

Plenty of winners and losers emerged from the pile from a very physical Monday Night Football game between Washington and Kansas City.

The Kansas City Chiefs survived a very close game in primetime against the Washington Redskins on Monday. The final score was 29-20, but this game was a nail-biter the whole way. However, a win is a win and in the NFL you rarely win easy. As we enjoy the Chiefs being the only undefeated team left in the NFL, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Monday Night.

Winners

Kareem Hunt

I feel like a broken record but Kareem Hunt wins every week. When you are the early season leader in the clubhouse for league MVP, you get to have the first win. Hunt had 21 carries for 101 rushing yards—eclipsing the 100 yard mark for the third time in four games. He added 20 yards receiving on four catches giving him total of 121 yards. Only three other players have accomplished the feat and it’s a familiar list of names: Billy Sims, Adrian Peterson and LaDanian Tomlinson. Of that list, only Sims had more yards through four games at 745 to Kareem’s 659. Hunt now leads the league in rushing by 140 yards over Todd Gurley.

Albert Wilson

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Something nobody ever thought they’d read is that Albert Wilson was a big win tonight. Yes he made a strange decision on a jet sweep in the first half when he ran into a tackle. It appeared he had lots of room to either cut up earlier or go outside the block but still got six yards. All Wilson did after that was win the game for the Chiefs.

It started with his catch on a ball that deflected off Travis Kelce when the Chiefs where driving for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. The ball bounced off Kelce and flew several feet in the air—a free ball for anyone to get. Wilson came out of nowhere and out jumped three Redskins to keep the ball in our possession. If he doesn’t catch that ball, there are three Redskins ready to catch it, a shift that would have ended the Chiefs drive gave Washington a great chance to go for the win with 5 minutes left. Instead Harrison Butker kicked a field goal to go up 20-17.

After the Redskins tied the game, Wilson again saved the day when he hauled in a great 37-yard catch from Alex Smith. This got the Chiefs to the 34-yard line of the Redskins and into field goal range. The Chiefs tacked on some yards and set up the game winning kick. I may never say this again, but without Wilson tonight, the Chiefs odds of winning drop precipitously.

Harrison Butker

The biggest winner of Monday night is no doubt Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. The 22-year-old rookie was signed off the Carolina Panthers practice squad on Tuesday and he made an instant impact. He did miss his first field goal, but who can blame him? It was a 46 yarder, into the wind, on MNF and it was rushed. That is as tough of a first kick as you can get, and he missed it.

Fortunately, he didn’t even come close to missing anything else. He made five out of six kicks including two extra points and three field goals all of which he put right down the middle. Of course the game came down to a kick from the rookie kicker, since the ball always seems to find the new guy. Redskins’ coach Jay Gruden tried to ice the kid but it did no good. He put the game-winner right down the middle and the celebration began.

One thing though that can’t be overlooked, he booted every single kickoff out of the end zone. He gave them no chance to get any momentum with a big kickoff return and that is something small that means a lot. A great find by David Toub and a tremendous first game for Butker that he’ll never forget.

Losers

Marcus Peters

The biggest loser for tonight had to be Marcus Peters. He got beat for two touchdowns including a big 44-yard strike during the Redskins first drive. Yes Terrelle Pryor got away with a little push, but Peters also mistimed his jump and got beat. When you are considered a top three corner, you can’t give up that play. Then in the third quarter, he got beat on a quick slant for the Redskins second touchdown of the game. Again it was a good throw and catch, but you expect more from Peters.

Worse was after the play on the sideline he was caught by cameras cursing at someone in the stands. You simply can’t curse towards the fans. There are kids there and you have to be bigger than that. So Peters had maybe one of the worst games of his career, but he is still an amazing corner and I have no doubt he will bounce back with a big game next week.

Pass rushers

The Chiefs pass rush was non-existent on Monday night. They recorded zero sacks and put little pressure of any kind on Kirk Cousins. They did flush him from the pocket a few times in the fourth quarter, but they allowed Cousins to get out of the pocket and run for big first downs in those plays. Justin Houston was in pass coverage way too much again tonight and Frank Zombo is just not a good pass rusher.

I think I speak for all of K.C. when I say we aren’t paying Houston $20 million to cover Vernon Davis 30 yards downfield, especially if Dee Ford is going to miss more time. The Chiefs need to figure out something to do with the pass rush. I wouldn’t mind seeing Tanoh Kpassagnon get some reps on passing downs over Zombo. Zombo is a solid linebacker who is smart and makes good plays, but he is not a pass rushing threat. Hopefully defensive coordinator Bob Sutton can go to the drawing board and find out ways to get a pass rush before next Sunday night in Houston.

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