Kansas City Chiefs: Midterm grades for 2019 season

Quarterbacks & Running Backs

Patrick Mahomes looked rather pedestrian in losses against the Colts and Texans, but, at least according to his Quarterback Rating, he still played well, earning ratings of 91.9 and 96.5 in the losses. In both games, he just couldn’t muster enough out of the rest of the offense to get wins.

Before dislocating his right kneecap against the Broncos, he had completed 10 of 11 passing attempts for 76 yards and one touchdown. When he left the game, the Chiefs had a lead that they would not yield. And he could return from his injury as soon as this weekend against the Vikings.

What mo(o)re could you want from a back-up quarterback? While Matt Moore looked rusty when he entered against Denver, that shouldn’t have been unexpected considering he last played in 2017. But he settled down, and under him, Kansas City outscored Denver 20-0.

https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1188625848884174854

And while the Chiefs lost to the Packers with Moore starting, that was more of the Chiefs getting beat by future Hall-of-Famer Aaron Rodgers than the Chiefs losing because of Matt Moore’s play. Was he perfect? No. Did he give his team a chance? That, and then some.

LeSean McCoy leads the team in rushing attempts (69), rushing yards (362), and yards-per-rush (5.2), but he disappears for stretches at a time. Earlier in the year, he was absent because of missed blocking assignments. Sunday against the Packers, he lost a costly fumble on which Green Bay immediately capitalized, and was benched for the rest of the game.

It appears the Chiefs are in no rush to force Damien Williams back into the starting role. Since returning in Week 5 from an injury, he’s played 22% of the offensive snaps against the Colts, 38% against the Texans, 28% against the Broncos, and 42% against the Packers. In that time, he’s rushed the ball just 26 times and caught six passes.

Here’s to a higher workload against the Vikings.

Darrel Williams only has seven total touches in the past four games. And this after collecting 109 total yards against the Ravens in Week 3 and scoring two touchdowns in Week 2 against Detroit.