The Kansas City Chiefs start the 2019 season how they ended the 2018 season, and that is being the most dominant offenses in the league. With a 40-26 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs gave us plenty to look at and analyze going forward.
Week 1 in the NFL has already been full of surprises. The Browns were stomped by the Titans at home (43-13). Lamar Jackson looked good as a passer (324 yards and 5 TDs). The Bears losing their home opener to the Packers (10-3). But for the Kansas City Chiefs, it was all business as usual.
With 491 yards of total offense, the Chiefs scored on all of their drives except for two (a punt and the end of the game capped those drives), 40 points scored. Offensively, Kansas City was still booming, but defensively, not much has changed from last season either.
The Chiefs allowed 26 points and 5.1 yards per rush by Jacksonville. Despite two takeaways and a sack, Kansas City’s defense continues to leave a lot to be desired. But some of the most important stories from the victory in Duval county do not show up on the box score. Injuries, player reactions, coverages, and physical readiness all come to mind. So it’s important to examine those stories and see what can be learned and applied moving forward into the season.
A One-Legged Patrick Mahomes Does Not Regress
After winning MVP in his first full season as a starter by throwing for 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns in one season, many people started to ask the obvous, “How much higher can he go?”
Many analysts covering the league came to the idea that Mahomes will actually regress in 2019. Claiming “they have film on him now” and scanning NFL history for comps, the idea was that Mahomes’ early success is actually unnatural and will revert back to NFL norm.s
Mahomes may not have thrown for 5000 yards and 50 touchdowns this Sunday, but he did throw for nearly 400 yards and put up 3 touchdowns.
Last season, Jacksonville held Mahomes to just over 300 yards, getting 2 interceptions as well and kept the rocket-slinger from passing into the end zone. Despite playing mostly the same defense, Mahomes improved significantly on last season’s numbers, even without playing in most of the fourth quarter.
This was also Week 1, the opponent teams should be most prepared for, as they have had the longest amount of time o watch film and research the opponent.
This only get’s much more impressive when you realize Patrick Mahomes sprained his ankle in the first quarter. s sAfter scrambling forward on a broken play, Mahomes got gang tackled by three Jaguars. After some awkward movement and rolling through the tackles, plus some dirty activity on the pile, Mahomes got up extremely light on his leg. After getting to the sideline, team doctors identified an ankle issue and taped it up to help support the ankle through the rest of the game.
Mahomes limped off the field after the following play, which was followed by some on-field scuffles pic.twitter.com/hjB0shvNpA
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) September 8, 2019
After the game, it was revealed during press conferences that Mahomes suffered an ankle sprain. It’s not a severe injury, otherwise he would not have been allowed to finish the game, but it’s one that will limit movement and make a player uncomfortable on the field. Incredibly, Mahomes threw for another touchdown and nearly 200 yards after the injury.
There are still plenty of opportunities to regress and look sloppy, but if this game’s performance is one to judge, Mahomes looks to be on pace to recreate last season’s success—even if he only has one leg to stand on.