Kansas City Chiefs, Week 5 player awards: Dee Ford leads the team to victory

Biggest Disappointment of the Week: Offense

It hasn’t been easy for me to decide who the biggest disappointment offensively has been over the first 5 games of the season. This offense just has too many pieces working together like a well-oiled machine. As such, it isn’t easy for me to really get a grip on who had the most disappointing outing.

If I even mentioned Patrick Mahomes here, there would undoubtedly be a witch hunt for me. While his performance was the worst of his season thus far, you ought to give him some credit. He put up over 300 passing yards against the best defense in the NFL, which is primarily the reason I’m not putting him here. Due to his somewhat lackluster performance, however, he does get a minor mention here as he did throw two interceptions. One was just simply due to his lack of experience, the other simply because he just let it float.

The worst performance perhaps came from tight end Demetrius Harris, who appears to be getting back into his ball-dropping antics yet again. Listed as the only backup tight end behind star tight end Travis Kelce, a bit more of an effort would be expected out of him. His inconsistency can really hurt the Chiefs in the long run, and I personally think there are more viable options out there. I guess the Chiefs see something in Harris that most of us don’t, which is probably him being a red zone target.

• 1 reception
• 5 yards

Biggest Disappointment of the Week: Defense

A disheartening outing by this rookie, together with a collectively spectacular overall defensive performance by the rest of the team made this decision a rather easy one. He just simply hasn’t done enough to turn heads in the first 5 games of his rookie campaign. Being the Chiefs’ top draft pick of 2018, more production is definitely expected out of him.

Outside linebacker Breeland Speaks is probably best suited as a defensive end. His speed kills the Chiefs, both in pass rush and zone coverage. On one of his only plays in coverage, Speaks was blown out of the water on a touchdown pass to Jaguars running back T.J. Yeldon. His coverage skills just simply aren’t up to par with what an outside linebacker needs, especially given his lack of speed.

• 1 solo tackle

RUNNER-UP: Justin Houston (0 tackles)

The Wrap

Overall, the defense simply out-performed the offense in an impressive fashion. The defense totaled 5 sacks and 5 turnovers, the turnovers (4 interceptions, 1 fumble recovery) being a season game-high. It’s no secret that the defense has struggled in the past four games. Perhaps Bob Sutton read my article last week, wherein I ‘called’ him out for his lackluster playcalling? Probably not, but you never know.

Regardless of the circumstance, they simply got the job done. Whoever put extra grain in the defensive players’ Wheaties, they need a raise. Hopefully, the defense is able to keep this impressive look up. It’s not likely they will, but it’s also not highly unlikely either.

The offense, on the other hand, had a bit of a struggle, but you can’t really put them at fault as they were playing one of, if not the toughest defense in the NFL. The Jaguars boast one of the strongest defenses in the league, and they proved it by the amount of pressure they had generated on Mahomes, as well as the two interceptions thrown. Mahomes and his offense still prevailed, however, as he helped lead his team to victory.

It was a performance in which the defense outplayed the offense, something we haven’t seen all season. I personally hope that the defense is able to keep it up and propel themselves to amazing performances for the next 12 weeks. With all the talk of how heinous they have performed, maybe it’s lit a fire underneath them. Whatever the case may be, it was a job well done.