Chiefs vs. Commanders: Five lessons learned in second preseason game

There was a lot of good that came out of the Chiefs week two preseason game against the Commanders, but there were five notes in particular that stood out.

The Kansas City Chiefs faced off with the Washington Commanders in the second week of the NFL preseason and won their home opener by a score of 24-14.

There are plenty of good things to point out about the Chiefs after their win over the Commanders, but with final cuts just over a week away, it was the minor details that stood out the most on Saturday. The competition among the defensive line—the interior, in particular—is raging on. There are still questions to be answered about who will round out the linebacker room, and it’s also uncertain how many receivers will suit up on game days. The snap share among the running back committee appears to be up in the air as well.

A great game was played between the Chiefs and Commanders on Saturday, but more importantly, Chiefs Kingdom got some answers about what they can expect to see in Week 1. There are five takeaways that jumped out for the Chiefs on Saturday.

1. George Karlaftis was an absolute steal in the draft

Ahead of the NFL Draft, the narrative surrounding George Karlaftis was fueled by his supposed lack of pass-rushing moves. He was criticized for a lack of “twitch” and “bend” by draft experts and scouts. To everyone who contributed to that analysis, Chiefs Kingdom thanks you.

The rookie has now recorded a sack in each of his two appearances on an NFL gridiron, and today’s, which came in the second quarter against the Commanders was truly impressive.

What Karlaftis was lauded for, as he came out of Purdue, was his natural bull-rushing ability. On his sack of Commanders’ QB Carson Wentz, he manhandled the tight end who then got help from the right tackle. Karlaftis was able to work through the developed double team and muscle his way to the quarterback.

Considering the Chiefs finished among the bottom four in all of football for total sacks in 2021, it feels damn good to see a pass-rushing draft pick pan out from jump street.