The Kansas City Chiefs have to love what they saw from several angles in their season-opening win over the Arizona Cardinals.
The Kansas City Chiefs looked like they were in midseason form when the starters took their limited reps during their three preseason games. The Arizona Cardinals would certainly agree after being walloped by the Chiefs to open the season, a 44-21 road win for the Chiefs in Glendale that was lopsided from the very beginning.
The Chiefs scored on their first three drives to put the Cards on the ropes, and Kyler Murray lacked the weapons or ability to keep up. From there, Andy Reid allowed Patrick Mahomes to stay in the game even when leading by multiple touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The end result was a statement win that will have people talking all week.
What lessons did we learn about the Chiefs on Sunday? What does this new team have to tell us? Let’s look at some things we found out in Week 1.
Everything but Mahomes is secondary
As it turns out, even the offensive pillars are secondary to the quarterback on the Kansas City Chiefs.
For the last several seasons, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have spent years piling on the accolades, attending the Pro Bowl, and putting up the stats, but from the moment he donned the starting quarterback role, it’s actually Patrick Mahomes that stands alone as the primary focal point for this Chiefs’ franchise.
No offense to Hill. Certainly no slight to anyone else who is among the dearly departed in the last offseason. And Kelce, for his part, had a tremendous day (once again) against the Cardinals in Week1. But Mahomes was a man on fire even outside of Kelce’s presence. He hit nearly 10 different receivers on the day. He had five touchdown passes before the third quarter was even over. He was distributing the ball as if he invented the game.
After an offseason where Mahomes watched plenty of other QBs earn the praise of analysts and when his own offense was shaking things up personnel-wise, it’s clear that Mahomes is a giant at the position and has started out the NFL’s MVP race with a bang.