Let’s face it, the Chiefs game against the Colts was hard to watch, outside of a couple of instances of Mahomes magic. The offensive line struggled to slow down the Colts’ pass rush and special teams had probably their worst game under Dave Toub’s tenure as the special teams’ coach. Despite this rough game, the Chiefs will be ok.
For starters, is Patrick Mahomes still on the roster? (checks the Chiefs roster) Yup, there he is in between Chris Lammons and Jerick McKinnon. As long as number 15 is under center, the Chiefs will be just fine. Mahomes is off to one of the, if not the best starts ever for a quarterback. Just look at how many “fastest to ______” NFL records he owns. Look at him being the youngest quarterback in NFL history to have a league MVP award and a Super Bowl victory which he earned at 24 years and 138 days old. He’s also one of the youngest MVPs in NFL history; he was the second youngest behind Dan Marino when he won it and both players have since been surpassed by Lamar Jackson. Quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, and we’ve got a good one.
Despite a rough game against the Colts, the Chiefs still have one of the most underrated offensive lines in the NFL. Even some of the best offensive lines in NFL history have had rough games. The line is led by Creed Humphrey, who at 23, is already not just one of the top centers in the NFL but one of the top offensive linemen. This could be the former center in me talking, but the center is underrated in its importance. All blocking assignments begin with the center, not to mention getting that snap to the quarterback is important. Despite what Buccaneer’s defensive linemen Shaquil Barrett said, this line is vastly improved from the line in Super Bowl LV. They will continue to protect our half-a-billion dollar quarterback.
The Chiefs’ special teams unit had a rough outing against the Colts, there’s no denying it. Between Skyy Moore’s muffed punt, the missed extra point and field goal from Matt Ammendola which likely cost him his job filling in for Harrison Butker while he’s nursing that injured ankle, poor kickoff coverage, and poor blocking on kickoff returns. Despite this, the Chiefs still have a good special teams unit. Moore is a rookie, he’s going to make mistakes. Butker isn’t going to be gone all season and should be back soon. Tommy Townsend is also off to a potential All-Pro selection season so far and was probably the sole bright spot on special teams against the Colts. He is 2nd in punting average with 55.6, 1st in net average with 49.6, and his punts have given up the 6th fewest return yards among punters with at least 10 punts. The Chiefs also have one of the top special team’s coaches in the game Dave Toub. When Butker comes back, the kicking issues will be over as well.
Another reason the Chiefs will be ok is their defense. The Chiefs’ defense is probably one of the most improved units in the NFL. Chris Jones is back to his old self and consistently getting pressure on passes. George Karlaftis is having a great rookie season as well. The Chiefs have the 5th most sacks in the NFL so far this season. The Chiefs’ rush defense is 9th in the league after finishing 2021 21st. The Chiefs’ defense is allowing only 0.3 more points per game this year compared to last year, 24.1 fewer pass yards per game, 30.9 fewer rush yards per game, and 54.9 fewer total yards per game. The only thing about the Chiefs that hasn’t improved is they are on pace for substantially fewer forced turnovers than last season. The Chiefs’ defense doesn’t need to be a top 5 defense for the Chiefs to be successful, they just need to make an extra couple of stops each game and let our superstar quarterback do the rest.
Andy Reid is a future Hall of Fame coach, plain and simple. His bust will be in Canton within a few years of when he hangs up his headset. As long as “Big Red” is walking the sidelines on gameday, the Chiefs will be fine. Even the all-time greats had weaknesses, Reid’s biggest issue has always been clock management. We have seen a handful of instances of this cost the Chiefs a game and the Colts game was one of them. Reid paired with Mahomes is easily one of the best coach/quarterback combinations in NFL history, up there with Paul Brown and Otto Graham, Lombardi and Starr, Walsh and Montana, Dungy and Manning, and Belichick and Brady. The future Hall of Famer will keep us a contender this season.
Even the best teams in NFL history (not saying this Chiefs team is one of the best) have had bad games. The Colts game was the Chiefs’ bad game for this season. It’s a long season with 14 more games to go. There is plenty of time for things to get going in the right direction.
