It’s been a bumpy first half of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs. After starting the season out undefeated through the first four games, they’ve gone 1-3 most recently. Injuries have really derailed any momentum they built and now they’re trying to get healthy as quickly as possible in order to get back on track for the second half of the season.
Despite facing considerable adversity in the first half of the season this is still the explosive team that we all grew to love in 2018. They’ve combined for some incredible plays worthy of recapping at the halfway point of the season. Both the offense and defense have had their shining moments already.
Here’s a look at eight of the best plays from the Chiefs for the 2019 season organized chronologically:
Sammy Watkins 68-yard touchdown
The Chiefs started off the 2019 season with a bang. First off, this throw wasn’t the easiest from Mahomes. There was some traffic ahead of where Sammy Watkins caught the ball, but he’s able to throw around it and get the ball to Watkins.
The rest of it was all about Watkins’ ability to make a pair of defenders miss, including All-Pro CB Jalen Ramsey. He also really turned on the jets leaving four Jaguars defenders in the dust on his way to the endzone. Not a bad way to start the season if you ask me.
Frank Clark’s interception
Part of what makes this play great is its myth. There are still Chiefs fans questioning if it ever truly happened. Why? Because the CBS broadcast truck went down during the end of this game and fans across the nation were unable to see this play happen live. The Chiefs eventually compiled a video of the play and released it on social media. Check it out:
Kansas City had already put the game away at this point, so this play was inconsequential but it truly was an impressive display of awareness from Frank Clark. Defensive linemen don’t often get a chance to catch live balls in the air, so to see him haul it in was pretty cool.
Demarcus Robinson one-handed TD catch
This was one of those absolutely bonkers plays where Patrick Mahomes did something amazing and his receiver managed to one-up him on the catch. This 360-degree view shows you how incredible the throw was. Mahomes throws it off his back foot with pressure in his face and gets perfect placement in the corner of the endzone. That’s just not supposed to be able to happen.
This next view just shows off how impressive the catch was by Demarcus Robinson. He just kind of scoops the ball out of the air with his right hand in the corner of the endzone.
This is the type of stuff we’ve become accustomed to seeing from these two — they just have a chemistry that is next-level.
Bashaud Breeland 100-yard fumble recovery TD
This still might be the most heads up play in football in the 2019 season. The fact that Bashaud Breeland had the sense to pick up this ball and run it all the way back to the opposite endzone is incredible. What’s even more incredible is that the referees didn’t blow this play dead with some lame-brained excuse like “forward progress.”
The coaching staff deserves some kudos for cementing it in Breeland’s mind that if there’s a ball on the ground to pick it up and if he doesn’t hear the whistle to keep running to the endzone.
Travis Kelce to LeSean McCoy Hook-and-Ladder
You know that you’ve done something special when you get a professional broadcaster to yell, “That was sick!”
Kelce could have held onto this ball and probably got the first down but where is the fun in that? Instead, he flips the ball to McCoy on a completely improvised hook-and-ladder play. It set up the go-ahead score for the Chiefs against the Lions. This play had the internet buzzing for hours, here’s a look at it:
Andy Reid jokingly took credit for this one after the game, explaining that this is exactly how they drew that play up.
Patrick Mahomes doing Patrick Mahomes things
This list wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t have some pure Patrick Mahomes magic. This was before Mahomes reaggravated his ankle injury for the umpteenth time.
The Colts defensive pressure is getting after Mahomes and it looks like this is going to be a sack for a big loss. Mahomes rolled out of the pressure twice and delivers a strike to only where his WR Byron Pringle can get it. It just never gets old watching this guy play football. Check it out:
Nobody else but Mahomes can make that type of magic happen.
Return of the Cheetah
Tyreek Hill was injured for a good chunk of the season in Kansas City. When he finally made his return in Week 6, it was quite triumphant. You’d think that a player coming off a sternoclavicular dislocation injury would be hesitant around contact but Hill plays fearlessly.
There was a lot of talk in the past outside of Kansas City about Hill being a gimmick receiver. Well, plays like this just prove that he’s much more than that. He high points the ball in between two defenders and muscles his way into the endzone.
This was simply a great welcome back moment for Hill.
Matt Moore’s first TD since 2017
Looking back on this season we’ll remember Matt Moore. He comes to Kansas City to backup Patrick Mahomes after being retired for a season. He’s thrust into a primetime game because Mahomes dislocated his kneecap. It’s his first real game action in over a year and he’s relieving the best QB in football. As it turns out, the moment was not too big for Moore.
Moore manages a messy pocket and steps up to deliver a nice arching deep ball to Hill. The rest was up to Hill, who took the ball 57 yards to the house on this play. This helped ice the game against Broncos and ensure a victory in the recent four-game stretch that has mostly been a struggle for Kansas City.
