Week 7 is now in the books and the Kansas City Chiefs remain the clear leader atop the AFC West. Let’s take a look at the NFL Standings.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals handily on Sunday Night Football, winning 45-10, to advance to 6-1. Elsewhere around the AFC, the Denver Broncos scored the exact same as the Chiefs, beating the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football and moving to 3-4. The Los Angeles Chargers narrowly escaped the Tennessee Titans in London and sit just a game behind the Chiefs at 5-2. The Oakland Raiders remain at 1-5, as they had their bye week.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes continues to shine, as he’s set yet another record: most touchdown passes in first 8 career games. He has thrown 22, which surpasses Kurt Warner‘s 21. He’s also thrown for 300 yards or more in his last six starts. It’s fair to suggest that Mahomes should be the top candidate for MVP. Behind Mahomes’ strong performance of 28/39 completions for 358 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception, the Chiefs jumped ahead of the Bengals early on and never looked back.
Elsewhere on the team, running back Kareem Hunt had great game, rushing 15 times for 86 yards and a touchdown, including this amazing run where he appeared to be wrapped up, escapes, and hurdles a man for 21 yards. Following this run, he set himself up for his second receiving touchdown of the night. Ultimately, he caught 5 passes for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns.
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Tight end Travis Kelce was the Chiefs’ leading receiver, catching 5 passes for 95 yards. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill drew the most targets of the night with 10, but was only able to catch 7 and dropped a wide open pass in the end zone. The Chiefs’ strong offensive performance—and a great defensive performance—led them to a 45-10 win over the Bengals.
The Broncos took advantage of playing against rookie Cardinals’ quarterback Josh Rosen, intercepting him three times, returning two for touchdowns, and sacking him six times. Broncos’ quarterback Case Keenum threw an interception in his 7th consecutive game this season, giving him nine on the year. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders had the best day for the Broncos, catching 6 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown, while also throwing a 28-yard touchdown pass. The Broncos breezed by the Cardinals 45-10.
The L.A. Chargers narrowly beat the Tennessee Titans in London. The Chargers were without starting running back Melvin Gordon due to a hamstring injury and had running back Austin Ekeler fill the hole. Ekeler finished the day with only 42 rushing yards on 12 attempts and 5 receptions for 26 yards.
Quarterback Philip Rivers had a solid day, completing 19/26 passes for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns. The bulk of Rivers’ passes went to wide receivers Tyrell Williams and Keenan Allen, catching 4 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown and 5 passes for 72 yards respectively. The Titans scored in the dying seconds of the game, but instead of going for the tie they went for the win and fell short, leaving the Chargers to a 20-19 win.
The Raiders were on their bye week, but their team still managed to get worse. Earlier in the week, they announced that running back Marshawn Lynch had a groin strain and would be out for at least a month, then placed him on IR yesterday. They also made another move yesterday—traded away their #1 receiver. They traded away wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys for a 1st round pick in next year’s draft.
Here are the NFL standings around the league: