The 5 most important plays for the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4

In a game with several heroes stepping up at various times, here’s our attempt to count down the five most important plays for the Chiefs in Week 4.

We’re just going to be honest up front: we had an impossible time counting just five plays to include on this week’s list of highlights. The Kansas City Chiefs saw several players step up in every single quarter to do something significant to contribute to the team’s 34-30 road win over the Detroit Lions in Week 4.

It was truly a team effort for the Chiefs, which makes it hard to pick out just a handful of plays to represent the win. In fact, this victory more than any other so far in 2019 featured highlights from many disparate places rather than the typical Patrick Mahomes highlight reel.

Despite the difficulty, we’re committed to giving you at least a look back at some of our favorite moments. Let’s start with an intelligent play from Bashaud Breeland that tilted the game for the Chiefs.

1. Bashaud Breeland’s fumble return

It should be said, first and foremost, that Chris Jones was a man-beast today. Not only do the Chiefs lose without him, but it likely wouldn’t even be that close. Jones was a wrecking crew in the heart of the line, and this was just one of several amazing plays on the day for the defensive tackle.

A stop on this play would have been great, but Jones actually forces a fumble here. The officials hesitate to blow any whistle and the play is not dead, despite what most players involved believed in the moment. The awareness and intelligence of cornerback Bashaud Breeland is impressive here as he picks up the ball and runs it all the way back for a 100 yard fumble return. Touchdown, Chiefs!

Even on the replay, the whole series of events was just shocking. Imagine how it feels to be the team that was poised on the verge of a touchdown.

2. Hook and Ladder!

Speaking of plays that make you shake your head, this was another stomach punch for the Lions.

The Chiefs are down by 3 to begin the fourth quarter. Patrick Mahomes rolls out and throws across his body as he sees an open Travis Kelce in a mismatch downfield. The pass itself would have been another nice toss from one man who is the best at his position to another, but Kelce then elevates the play with some ingenuity of his own and laterals it back to LeSean McCoy.

They say there’s no defending this Chiefs offense, but there’s literally no defense for that. That first play of the fourth gave the Chiefs even better field position and some incredible momentum. Plus it’s just a ton of fun to rewatch that play.

3. Nnadi forces Stafford fumble

After watching a few of these replays, we’re kinda/sorta starting to feel bad for the Lions. Here, again, is another goal-to-go situation for the Lions. Here, again, is another trip where they came away with nothing.

Don’t let the fact that the Chiefs fumbled the ball on their very next drive. This stop was huge shouldn’t be overlooked despite being bookended by two Chiefs turnovers. The Lions had just had a Kenny Golladay touchdown pass reversed by officials, and then Derrick Nnadi steps up and forces the fumble around the 7-yard line. From there, Chris Jones picks it up who brings it back close to the 20.

It was another huge defensive play that kept the Lions from doing further damage in a back-and-forth battle.

4. Byron Pringle’s clutch catch

There were other offensive plays that went for greater yardage on the day. However, we feel like Byron Pringle deserves a major mention here for his tough catch down the stretch. Remember Pringle was supposed to make this team last year but was injured instead and missed the year. This preseason, he held off another round of competition to make the team and this is why.

With just 36 seconds left in the game, the Chiefs are at the Detroit 16-yard line on 2nd and 10 when Mahomes finds Pringle in traffic crossing left. Pringle knows he’s going to get hit, but hauls in this catch and bounces off of two defenders to take it all the way to the 3-yard line. On a day where the Chiefs needed everyone on this roster to step up and execute enough for a victory, this catch is a great representation of just that.

5. Honey Badger’s sack

For those who have been waiting for Tyrann Mathieu to hit the stat sheet, the Honey Badger came up huge in the fourth quarter with a well-timed blitz on Stafford that forced the Lions to lose 14 yards. This sack was executed perfectly and Stafford can’t even get rid of the ball like he wants because of the way that Mathieu was able to take him down.

We’d love to hear your calls on the top plays of the night. We realize this doesn’t even include anything from Darrel Williams, the sack from Alex Okafor near the beginning of the game, Shady’s big first-quarter run, the late scramble from Mahomes, other critical catches by Kelce and so on. Let’s hear from you. What should be included? Do you agree? Either way, it’s nice to see the Chiefs are 4-0 through the first month of the season.