Around the AFC West: How the West was won by all in Week 9
By Ellen Mathis
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Minnesota Vikings (truth hurts) on Sunday without their MVP quarterback, two starting offensive linemen, two starting defensive ends, and a starting cornerback. Obviously, this was going to be a tough game simply because of injury, but with Andy Reid, one can never count them out.
Matt Moore had an incredible day throwing to Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, and Travis Kelce. Damian Williams tied the Chiefs’ record for the longest touchdown from scrimmage (91 yards). The return of Chris Jones proved to terrify Kirk Cousins, and the Chiefs secondary, led by Charvarius Ward, showed how much they have improved. This was a statement win by the Chiefs that showed that they can win even with all those injuries. And, they are starting to get healthier. Look out NFL, this team is coming.
The game came down to a last second field goal and our own ButtKicker.com, Harrison Butker, drilled it. After the game, he said it may have been tipped, but either way, he won it and the celebration after will live on.
Perhaps the most encouraging part of this win was that the Chiefs finally came out without any additional injuries. With the imminent return of Kendall Fuller, Frank Clark, Eric Fisher, Alex Okafor, Laurent Duvarney-Tardif, and of course, Patrick Mahomes, this is a terribly dangerous team.
Next week, the Chiefs travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans. The Titans are a bit of a mess this week having benched their franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill. They’re also coming off a loss at Carolina to the Panthers and are just not playing great football. However, they do have another stout running back in Derrick Henry that the defense will need to bottle up. We’ll see if they can turn in another great run stopping performance.
Another thing to watch is at cornerback for the Titans. Malcolm Butler was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken wrist in Sunday’s game. Will the Chiefs exploit this and throw for 700 yards? If Mahomes is back, it sure seems like a possibility. I anticipate the Chiefs win this regardless of who is under center. They are just playing better football.
Opening line odds for the Chiefs in Week 10: Chiefs by 5.5.
Game time is Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
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