Kansas City Chiefs: 10 likes and 10 dislikes from win vs Texans in week 1
By Cullen Jekel
6. Cleanliness is Next to Godliness
The Chiefs had one penalty for five yards, gave up only one sack and three quarterback hits, and didn’t turn over the ball. Doesn’t get much cleaner than that.
7. The Uncomfortable Mr. Watson
While the Chiefs’ offensive line kept Mahomes nice and clean for the game. The same can’t be said for Watson, who was sacked four times for 11 yards, and suffered eight quarterback hits. He seemed to be under pressure most of the night.
Deshaun Watson had limited success passing outside the numbers and downfield (10+ air yards) against the Chiefs.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 11, 2020
Watson Passing Outside Numbers
➤ 2/6, 42 yards (-10.6% CPOE)
Watson 10+ Air Yards
➤ 4/11, 81 yards, TD, INT (-8.9% CPOE)#HOUvsKC | #WeAreTexans pic.twitter.com/KyyjoRZtNv
8. Two Big Yards
Early in the game, down a touchdown, the Chiefs faced a 4th-and-1 from their own 34. Conventional football “wisdom” has the team punting in such a situation. Fortunately, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy don’t abide by such hinky-jinky.
Fullback Anthony Sherman, on his only touch of the night, picked up two yards right up the gut, keeping the drive alive. The Chiefs would go on to score, and then score, and then score, and then…
9. Four Touchdowns and a Field Goal
Score and score.
31 unanswered 🐆#Kickoff2020 on NBC pic.twitter.com/wMzChp0W9g
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 11, 2020
After the team’s opening drive ended with a punt, the Chiefs scored a touchdown to cap an 11-play drive, scored a touchdown to cap a 16-play drive, kicked a field goal as the half ended, scored a touchdown to cap a seven-play drive, punted, and scored a touchdown to cap a six-play drive.
Then–and only then–did the Texans again manage anything on offense.
10. Opponents: Beware
An internal debate last night: did the Kansas City Chiefs look that much better? Or do the Texans look that much worse?
Probably some of both, but more of the former. Mahomes was Mahomes, Kelce was Kelce, the Legion of Zoom did its thing when it needed to. The defensive line looked ferocious, the offensive line looked barbaric (in a good way), and the secondary held its own despite losing a starter to a fractured hand.
Sure, there are some worries (secondary depth, linebackers linebackering), but this team just showed it can win not only through the air in a shoot-out, but also on the ground with the addition of Edwards-Helaire and fresh o-line.
Feeling pretty confident about my 14-2 prediction.