Chiefs stock watch: Mike Danna, running backs trend up in Week 3

Taylor Swift was the guest of honor as the Kansas City Chiefs put together their most complete game of the season with Sunday afternoon's decimation of the hapless Chicago Bears by a score of 41-10. This game was over even before halftime as they took a 34-0 lead into the break and the Bears had no answer for what the Chiefs were doing on offense or defense.

The only moment of suspense happened at the end of the first half when Bears defensive end Yannick Ngakoue rolled up on Patrick Mahomes' ankle toward the end of a play. Mahomes came up a little gimpy but managed to finish the drive culminating in a field goal, and added another TD drive on the first drive of that second half for good measure.

It is rare for Chiefs fans to enjoy a stress-free game like this, but The Kingdom will undoubtedly take it. Here are the players whose stocks are trending after this Week 3 splendid display of superiority.

Stock Up: The entire Chiefs running back room

One of the biggest reasons the Chiefs were so successful on Sunday was the effectiveness of each of their running backs. Isiah Pacheco toted the rock 15 times and caught two passes for 78 total yards and a touchdown. Jerrick McKinnon had five touches and scored two twice in those opportunities. Even Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has been relegated to the third-string role despite having the longest-tenured back, had a productive day. CEH had 16 touches for 57 total yards and recorded his first touchdown since October 23, 2022.

The Chiefs' rushing attack put up 153 yards on the ground, which was a massive help in setting up the pass, especially in the first half. The Bears' defense could not figure out what offensive coordinator and former Bears head coach Matt Nagy was throwing at them, and the effectiveness of the Chiefs running backs are to thank for that. Chiefs Kingdom is always asking for the rushing attack to be more involved, so if the combination of Pacheco, McKinnon, and Clyde can produce like this, they may get their wish.

Stock Down: RT Jawaan Taylor

Jawaan Taylor is under the microscope, plain and simple. Since the Week 1 Thursday night game, where Chris Collinsworth spent about half of his time screeching about how far Taylor was lined up off the line of scrimmage and how quickly he gets off the ball, the referees have been paying incredibly close attention to him.

Last week, it was understandable. The NFL had sent out a memo regarding alignments and false starts, so it stands to reason that the spotlight would be on him then. But for that much attention to carry over into the next week is ridiculous. Taylor was called for two illegal formation penalties, both of which were pretty ticky-tack, and one took a touchdown to a wide-open Marquez Valdes-Scantling off the board.

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes discussed it in their post-game pressers here:

Coach Reid and Mahomes bring up some good points. It seems like Taylor has been picked on since Week 1. It looks like Taylor was lined up reasonably on both of those penalties, and several other tackles in the league are lining up deeper than him and not getting flagged for it. I can only imagine how frustrated Taylor must be. He spent the first four years of his career lining up one way. Then, some announcer whines on Week 1 of year five about being lined up too deep, and now you can hardly line up normally without getting a flag called on you. It reached the point where Prince Tega Wanogho had to take some snaps on the line to alleviate the pressure. Hopefully, this will be the last week we discuss these penalties because it is getting ridiculous.

Stock Up: DE Mike Danna

Mike Danna is officially my favorite player for the Chiefs. Danna continued his breakout season with three more tackles, a sack, and a handful of pressures against the woebegone Bears defensive line.

Danna is a former unheralded fifth-round pick out of Central Michigan who has had to fight and scrape his way from making the active roster to his starter status since he was drafted in the 2020 NFL Draft. In his three seasons heading into the 2023 campaign, Danna played 43 games and started in seven. In those 43 games, Danna averaged a little under two tackles a game and totaled 10.5 sacks. Now that Danna has won the starting defensive end job outright, his production has flourished.

Danna has had at least half of a sack in each game of 2023 and has nearly doubled his tackles per game. Danna was among the biggest beneficiaries of the Chris Jones holdout during the offseason. He took advantage of the snaps and playing time CJ's absence opened up, and he is now a bona fide starter at defensive end. If Danna can continue this production throughout the season, he may earn a hefty contract with his third Super Bowl ring.

Stock Up: TE Travis Kelce

What was once started as a joke is now reality. Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are a thing. If you did not know that before, you certainly do now if you watched at least three seconds of the broadcast. Swift was invited to the Kelce family suite at Arrowhead, where she sat next to Momma Kelce for the game's duration. She seemed genuinely interested in the game and celebrated when El Travador caught a touchdown. If that was not enough to convince you, Trav and T-Swift were filmed walking out of the stadium together. That look at the end from Kelce is absolute gold.

Not only is Travis Kelce arguably the best tight end to ever walk the planet, but he is now involved with arguably the most famous entertainer on the planet. Whether or not the relationship between Kelce and Swift will blossom remains to be seen. What cannot be argued is that if Kelce's stock could ever get higher than it already is, it certainly took a bump with Swift's Arrowhead appearance.

While I could quote a Taylor Swift line to close this article, it has already been played out. Everyone has already had a marvelous time ruining everything, so I will leave it at that.