Texans vs. Chiefs: Kelechi Osemele, Sammy Watkins earn high grades
Let’s hand out a few grades, good and bad, from the Chiefs win over the Texans on Thursday.
What a start to the #RunItBack campaign! The Kansas City Chiefs had almost every facet of the game going on Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans, which makes picking an MVP even harder.
I will start with game grades for some Chiefs players before moving on to who gets the game ball. The start to back-to-back Super Bowls is off and running—pun intended!
L’Jarius Sneed: A-
Outside of the first drive where he got a bit turned around and the Texans receiver dropped the ball, rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed looked extremely good. He was good enough to the point that, if he keeps this up, Bashaud Breeland isn’t getting his spot back upon his return from a four-game suspension.
Sneed’s size and athleticism was on full display, and he even chipped in an interception. Yes, it was thrown directly to him after Mathieu hit Watson’s arm, but it’s still nice getting the first turnover out of the way. Sneed added an impressive return as well. Huge performance against a very good offense.
Sammy Watkins: B+
Sammy Watkins loves the first game of the season apparently. After crushing it in last year’s season opener, he had a big game again. Not only did he have 7 catches for 82 yards and 1 touchdown, but he had a huge block that sprung open Tyreek Hill.
Watkins is a man who understands the offense and his role and has seemingly bought in even more in 2020. He looked in outstanding shape and his all-around game was very impressive. It’s this all-around skill set that keeps Watkins so involved in an offense that isn’t finding enough reps for other receivers (Mecole Hardman).
The Linebackers: D
Wow, this was not good. Texans running back David Johnson looked like the 2016 version against the Chiefs defense, especially in the first quarter. This was about the only area for Kansas City that wasn’t effective, and it was the main issue last season as well.
The fact that we watched Ben Niemann struggle and Willie Gay Jr. sit on the bench frustrated me more than it should. I think the talent Gay possesses more than makes up for the lack of being in the system long and even if not, could it be much worse? Dorian O’Daniel ended up with a sack which was a positive even if I think that was when he was the guy closest to pushing Watson out of bounds.
Was he a difference maker or what? This was a huge performance by him even if most people won’t talk about it. As amazing as CEH was, I’ll get to that in a second, Osemele was springing up holes left and right. He was an obvious difference maker in the run game and looked like he was getting extremely good pushes up front. I am very excited to see how much he helps open up the run game even if he doesn’t get a ton of credit. Watch him move folks when you can.
Chiefs Week 1 MVP: Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Talk about living up to the hype!
While everyone kept wondering if Edwards-Helaire would have a Kareem Hunt-type performance in his first game, he broke out with 25 carries for 138 yards and 1 touchdown. He didn’t have as big of an impact in the passing game as anyone thought, but it didn’t matter.
Edwards-Helaire was an absolute monster running the ball with elite vision, better than advertised balance through contact, and superb jump-cuts in his debut. I think he showed off all of his running ability in this game and it makes me even more excited knowing there is another area, pass-catching, yet to be seen.
The Chiefs might have the Offensive Rookie of the Year here.