5 winners and 4 losers from the Chiefs close win over the Bengals in Week 2

The Kansas City Chiefs have yet to lose, a fact that feels at odds with the emotions that the first two games of a new season has packed away. Some stars have yet to get going. Other players are missed. Some roster issues could become real concerns and we've not even touched Isiah Pacheco's status going forward.

With the Chiefs at 2-0 and ready to turn the corner toward the Atlanta Falcons in the next 48 hours, we wanted to at least celebrate (and denounce) a few things from the team's 26-25 win over the Bengals.

Here are our winners and losers from Week 2 for the Chiefs.

Winner: Rashee Rice

For all of the undesirable headlines generated by Rashee Rice this offseason, it's amazing to consider where this team would be without his growth on the field.

For the second consecutive game, Rice led the Chiefs in receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals with 75 and it wasn't even particularly close. (Justin Watson had 2 catches for 22 yards.) While a single game shouldn't alarm anyone, the truth is that there is a fairly precipitous drop after Rice in the WR room and Hollywood Brown's injury severity only exacerbates this concern.

While it's possible Xavier Worthy's growth curve could curtail this need, right now the Chiefs are fortunate to have a player as efficient, dangerous, and reliable as Rice at wide receiver.

Winner/Loser: Carson Steele

There's no other way to describe the Carson Steele Experience (that phrase should be trademarked) than to acknowledge the ups and downs of what was a rollercoaster ride on Sunday. That's not a slight against Steele at all. It's to be expected from a player who was an undrafted free agent only months ago.

Steele's ascent up the depth chart was already a great preseason story for the Chiefs, but it's clear he's earned significant trust from the coaching staff given how many reps he was given in the team's win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the extra playing time, Chiefs Kingdom saw first-hand just how tough of a runner he can be while simultaneously seeing how rookie mistakes can change a game in an instant. But what's most important is that, despite his first-half fumble, the Chiefs were quick to come right back to him for several more carries. That should bode well for him going forward.

Winner: Chris Jones

The stat sheet will tell you that Chris Jones had a forgettable game along the defensive front for the Chiefs with a single half-sack to his credit—certainly not a performance that anyone will remember. And yet it's precisely the kind of efforts put up on Sunday in a win over Cincy that make Jones the best interior disruptor in the game today.

Jones made the Bengals look downright silly at times along the defensive interior with his game-wrecking ability to get to the quarterback. His presence freed up others to get the job done and log the stats, but Jones deserves just as much credit as anyone for the fear he instills and the lanes he dominates.

Just ask Joe Burrow and company how much they tried to plan for Jones's talents and how far that got them on Sunday afternoon.

Loser: Patrick Mahomes

Feels weird and even wrong to write that, but it doesn't help anyone to sugarcoat Patrick Mahomes' performance on Sunday. It simply was not one of his best performances.

From taking hits to missing targets, Mahomes made multiple mistakes against the Bengals, but the most frustrating was a gift of an interception to Akeem Davis-Gaither. It was the second straight game in which Mahomes had served up a turnover on a silver platter, and until the game's final seconds, it looked as if that sort of self-defeating error was going to be the difference between winning and losing.

Mahomes will be the first to say he needed to play better and that's part of what makes him so great. It also speaks to the coaching and talent elsewhere on the roster that the team could start 0-2 when the play under center has been erratic at times.

Winner: Matt Araiza

Replacing Tommy Townsend wasn't going to be an easy role for anyone given that the former Chiefs punter had developed into one of the NFL's booming specialists, but there's a reason that Matt Araiza was once given the nickname of "punt god." We're not sure if we dig the moniker or not, but we're already in love with the jaw-dropping ability of Araiza to flip the field in any situation.

On Sunday, Araiza only had two punts, but he made the most of them with 112 yards between them, including a giant 63-yarder. Both punts ended up inside the opponents 20-yard line and one, thanks to some help from Joshua Williams, was downed around the 1-yard line. If the Chiefs hit some offensive hurdles, it's good to know they have someone who can apply pressure and give the defense some leverage.

Araiza has a total revelation at the position and a very impressive under-the-radar signing that should merit more praise as the season goes on. Araiza already looks like a worthy successor to Townsend and then some, and yet he's going to play for peanuts for the Chiefs for the next few seasons.

Losers: Kingsley Suamataia/Wanya Morris

Is there an answer here or not? That's a primary question on the minds of Chiefs Kingdom after watching Trey Hendrickson dominate the Chiefs up front for 60 minutes on Sunday.

It's far too early to tell to make a call on the ceiling of either player, especially Suamataia who was a second-round pick only four months ago and learning the game on the fly while attempting to stave off the best efforts of elite teams like the Ravens and Bengals. That said, the Chiefs need to either provide more help on the edges or give them time to learn and grow behind the scenes. There's no excuse to throw a kid who's not ready to the wolves like what happened to Suamataia on Sunday.

Winner: Chamarri Conner

This feels like an important moment for the Chiefs defense, one in which a young player stood up and announced his candidacy for more opportunities—and that player is Chamarri Conner.

Conner is a second-year defensive back who was the team's fourth-round pick a year ago out of Virginia Tech. Coming into a year without L'Jarius Sneed for the first time in four years, the secondary needed someone to step up and declare themselves ready. The unit is loaded with young, cost-controlled options that are mostly untested.

While Jaylen Watson will make some plays and Joshua Williams will excel on speciial teams units (at least), the truth is that Conner's ability to rise up on Sunday could fill in with some big plays a la Sneed is just what Spags ordered.