KC Chiefs: Sammy Watkins had a crazy season opener once again

Sammy Watkins had yet another brilliant season opener for the KC Chiefs. Hopefully this time he remains an effective playmaker and doesn’t disappear.

The reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs took the field for the first time since they won it all in February. The Chiefs were able to win the game in dominant fashion without Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce having huge games, which is very telling as to how this season will go for Kansas City.

Sammy Watkins had himself a nice game and led the team in receiving yards in the process, hauling in seven receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.

KC Chiefs fans saw Sammy Watkins put on an insane fireworks display in week 1 last year, but he didn’t do much during the rest of the regular season.

We all remember watching Watkins’ performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first game of the 2019 season. He grabbed nine balls for 198 yards and three touchdowns, making Chiefs fans think this was going to be a whole new Sammy Watkins.

Instead, Watkins finished the year only adding 475 receiving yards and zero touchdowns. He did perform well throughout the playoffs, but it’s hard not to be disappointed from what the Chiefs got from Watkins weeks 2-17.

Watkins should have plenty of opportunities to pad his stats this year, as opponents are going to be fixated on double teaming either Hill or Kelce (or both, if that’s even possible). That’ll open things up for Watkins to make plays.

The biggest motivation for Watkins to have a big year is that he’ll hit free agency after the 2020 season wraps up. If he performs as well as he did in week 1 throughout the season, a team will come calling and the former first round pick will have a chance to get another big contract before he turns 30 (he’s 27 right now).

Watkins didn’t come close to replicating his week 1 performance last year with his second best regular season game was week 3 against the Ravens when he had five catches for 64 yards. Fans aren’t expecting Watkins to put up video game like numbers every week, but hopefully this time he doesn’t just vanish from the offense like he did a year ago.

What do you think Chiefs fans? Will Sammy Watkins stick around and be a big time playmaker throughout the season or will this be a similar situation to last year?