The Kansas City Chiefs ran away with their first game of the season, a 40-26 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a great start for the Chiefs as they try to reach their goal of winning a Super Bowl and Patrick Mahomes tries to duplicate his MVP season from 2018. Here are five takeaways from their Week 1 win against the Jaguars.
Sammy Watkins poised for a big year
Watkins had quite the game against the Jaguars as he put up career-best numbers. He had 198 receiving yards with three touchdowns, showing that he is a top receiver talent in the NFL. He had a breakaway touchdown catch on the third play of the game and an impressive touchdown catch against Pro Bowl cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
During the offseason, people were talking about how good Watkins looked compared to years past. Watkins also mentioned this offseason that he has worked extremely hard to get healthy and ready for this season. It looks like that approach paid off.
It will be important for Watkins to continue this strong play because it looks like the Chiefs will be without one of their best offensive players, Tyreek Hill, at least for a few weeks. Watkins will need to step up and make up for that offensive production without Hill. If he plays like he did against the Jaguars, who have one of the best defenses in the NFL, that shouldn’t be a problem.
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Defense still needs plenty of work
The Chiefs defense made it hard to enjoy Patrick Mahomes and company putting up 40 points. It would be one thing if it were former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles was out there tearing up the Chiefs secondary, but it was rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew. I don’t want to take anything away from Minshew, who did have a great game and he wasn’t expecting to play, but the Chiefs secondary was unimpressive and allowed a lot of big plays.
This is a major concern for the Chiefs as they prepare to play a higher level of competition at quarterback, including Philip Rivers, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. The Chiefs will still be without Morris Claiborne until Week 5, but even with Claiborne returning in a few weeks, it may in the best interest of Brett Veach to add a corner via trade. If not we could see a similar season to 2018, when the Chiefs had to win shootouts.
If there was one saving grace for the defense in this game, it held the Jaguars to just 81 total yards on the ground. The tackling also appeared to be more sound than in years past.
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LeSean McCoy-Damien Williams duo works
Going into the game, there were questions on how the offense would work with both McCoy joining the Chiefs offense and Williams already being the starter. Much to my surprise, it worked out really well. McCoy was the Chiefs’ leader with 81 yards rushing and also had a reception for 12 yards, while Williams had 65 total yards and a rushing touchdown.
Although it may not be good for fantasy owners this seems to beneficial for the Chiefs as it allows both running backs to stay fresh and keeps the defense guessing on what the offense is trying to do. They both seem to have different styles of running with McCoy taking more inside runs and Williams working the perimeter.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see McCoy start to get more reps than Williams as the season goes on, because McCoy showed he still has plenty in the tank. But for the time being, the Chiefs have two very good options in the backfield to help take the load off of Mahomes.
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The offensive line needs to be slightly better
It’s not time to panic on the offensive line play against the Jaguars, because it wasn’t as terrible as it may have seemed at first glance. Mahomes didn’t get sacked, but he was hit four times during the game.
The Chiefs will need to tighten some things in order to keep Mahomes healthy for the entire season. The Chiefs were up against one of the best groups of defensive personnel in the NFL, so it wasn’t a surprise to see Mahomes get hit a few times, but there were a few times where it felt like Mahomes was getting pressured every play.
After Mahomes was hurt in the second quarter, Andy Reid started running quick pass plays to keep him from getting hit. Mahomes said after that game that he was OK and the ankle isn’t an issue. It’s still scary thinking about not having Mahomes for any amount of games. He’s the golden goose.
Hopefully, we see some better offensive line play as we progress further into the season. The Chiefs play quite a few more physical defenses that could pose a problem.
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Do not panic about Tyreek Hill’s injury … yet
The Chiefs offense still put up 40 points with Hill being out for the majority of the game due to a sternal clavicular joint injury. The offense should be fine without Hill, but it’s hard to expect them to be great. Considering how much attention Hill demands from teams, expect the game plan to change quite a bit.
They still have plenty of weapons, led by Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, Damien Williams, LeSean McCoy and Mecole Hardman. That being said, Hill may be the most talented player the Chiefs have besides Mahomes.
The Chiefs just signed Hill to a massive contract extension, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they took their time getting him healthy.
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