While the Kansas City Chiefs were battling the New York Jets this weekend, other former Chiefs were also either playing or preparing for their own games in Week 9. The Chiefs were fortunate to get back into the win column, but what about some of their alumni? How did they fare this week?
The latest edition of this series will update fans on how two former Chiefs quarterbacks performed with their current teams this week, and we'll also home in on a former Chiefs kicker and a former punter who briefly spent time in Kansas City.
Let's check in with our former friends.
Carson Wentz struggles mightily for Vikings
It became apparent last week that Kyler Murray might not be starting for the Vikings in Week 9, which paved the way for former Chiefs backup quarterback Carson Wentz to make his second start of the year for Minnesota. Wentz backed up Patrick Mahomes in 2024 and made one start at the very end of the year when K.C. had its playoff spot locked up.
Wentz took the field as the Vikings' starter for the second time this season, and it did not go well. That's putting it mildly, to say the least. It went abysmally for the former second overall pick, as Wentz completed just 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards and was picked off twice. He did this against a Bills defense that hasn't been all that great either, by the way.
According to ESPN Insights on X, "Wentz' 8.9 passer rating is the lowest by any player (min. 25 att) since Sam Darnold was "seeing ghosts" against the Patriots in 2019 (3.6)."
To make matters worse for Wentz and the Vikings, Minnesota's defense put on an absolute clinic and frustrated Josh Allen all night long. Yet it was all for naught, as the Vikings' offense could only muster six measly points.
Wentz hasn't been able to find his footing in the league since the Eagles moved on from him in 2021, but this was a comically bad performance from him. A guy who was once an MVP-like candidate in 2017 has really fallen off a cliff and proved that he isn't even a reliable backup anymore.
Cairo Santos nails game-winning field goal for Bears
On Sunday afternoon, Chiefs fans booed Harrison Butker for missing a field goal even after getting to attempt it again five yards closer. Later that night, former Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos drilled the game-winning field goal for the Bears against the Buccaneers.
Santos spent the first four years of his NFL career as the Chiefs' kicker and was a dependable kicker during his time in Kansas City. Ironically enough, Butker is the one who replaced Santos when he was injured in 2017, and the Chiefs never looked back.
Santos eventually found a home for himself in Chicago with the Bears and has had some heroic moments with them this season, pouring more salt in the wound for Chiefs fans. Despite the Bears turning the football over five times on Sunday night, Santos knocked through the game-winning field goal from 38 yards out.
Sure, the Chiefs moved on from Santos nearly a decade ago but it was still painful seeing him continue to be successful while Butker has completely fallen off a cliff.
Jack Fox executes fake punt to perfection
Not many people might remember Jack Fox, but he did spend time on the Chiefs' practice squad back in 2019 when Dustin Colquitt was still the punter. He was released by the team in November of 2019, however, and a month later joined the Detroit Lions, which is where he remains today.
You know if a punter is being brought up that they had to have done something either extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad. Fortunately for Fox and the Lions, it was the former.
At the beginning of the second quarter, facing a fourth-and-7 on their own 19-yard line, the Lions lined up to punt, as many would expect them to. Fox ended up taking the snap and completing an 11-yard pass to Tay Martin to give Detroit the first down and keep the drive going.
Five plays later, Fox punted the football away for real, but it's still cool whenever punters get a chance to throw the ball. This wasn't the first time Fox had the chance to show off his arm talent either, as the Lions' PR team posted a stat during the game that he's now 5-of-6 as a passer. Not too shabby.
Gardner Minshew injured after getting starting opportunity
Just last year, the Chiefs signed Gardner Minshew to serve as Mahomes' backup, and it was a move that made a lot of sense. Minshew was proven to be a reliable backup, and fans felt confident that he could keep things afloat if Mahomes was forced to miss time.
Well, unfortunately for Minshew, when he did get his chance to fill in for Mahomes, he was immediately injured. The Chiefs didn't re-sign him in the offseason, and he joined the Cardinals instead, where he was the backup to Jacoby Brissett.
In Week 8, however, Brissett was benched, and in came Minshew, who brought the Cardinals back in exciting fashion. He threw three touchdown passes and was so prolific that Arizona ended up trading Brissett to the Ravens and handing the keys to the car to Minshew.
In his first start with the Cardinals, Minshew completed 21 of 30 passes for 166 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. The bigger news, however, is that Minshew was injured during the game. While he ultimately played the entirety of the game after the injury, the latest reports are saying that Minshew suffered a torn UCL and could miss the rest of the year.
That means that instead of the Chiefs facing Minshew in two weeks at Arrowhead, they could very well be squaring off against rookie Carson Beck. Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery for Minshew.
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