Around the AFC West: Is this the NFL’s worst division?

Kansas City Chiefs

The injury-ridden, Mahomes-less Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football in what was supposed to be an amazing quarterback duel.

With Mahomes held out due to his dislocated kneecap, it was up to Matt Moore to lead the Chiefs offense. The Chiefs were without a host of starters including: Mahomes, Eric Fisher, Andrew Wylie, Chris Jones, Kendall Fuller, and Frank Clark. To win this game the Chiefs had to be perfect. Unfortunately they were not.

While Matt Moore played incredibly as the backup to Mahomes, dropped interceptions, an untimely fumble, and poor clock management/4th down decision making (plus a little Rodgers magic) handed the Chiefs their third loss of the season. LeSean McCoy‘s second fumble of the season came at the worst possible time and Andy Reid‘s decision not to go for it on 4th down handed the ball back to Rodgers which allowed him to seal the game.

Were the Chiefs healthy, do I think they would have fared better? Yes, but that isn’t the point. At the end of the day, you compete with what you have and the team that didn’t make mistakes won.

On a positive note, the defense logged another solid outing with 4 sacks and 12 quarterback hits—without two defensive line starters. The cornerbacks continue to look better each week and the run defense, which at the beginning of the season could best be described as Swiss cheese seems to be getting a little better. Additionally, Sammy Watkins returned to the field and had a couple impressive catches. Mecole Hardman continues to develop, and Tyreek Hill continues to be clutch. Travis Kelce didn’t have a great day, but he did have a great touchdown reception. Finally, hats off to Matt Moore who threw for 267 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. That is a great performance for someone who was coaching high school football last year.

Unfortunately, the Chiefs not only lost the game, but also lost a few players to injury along the way. An already hobbled offensive line saw Laurent Duvernay-Tardif leave the game with an ankle injury and Alex Okafor also suffered an ankle injury. Bashaud Breeland briefly sustained a sternum injury during the game but returned.

Next week, the Chiefs host the Minnesota Vikings in another tough game. Kirk Cousins faced criticism and turmoil in the locker room and that seems to have flipped a switch for him. He has been playing lights out lately and their team is quite healthy with the expected return of Adam Thielen from a hamstring tweak. The Vikings also have the league’s leading rusher in Dalvin Cook against a still porous run defense. This will certainly be a tough test and the status of Chiefs’ starters will undoubtedly be something to watch as we head toward Sunday.

Opening line odds for the Chiefs in Week 9: Chiefs by 2.5.

Game time is 12:00 p.m.