What we learned from Chiefs Week 2 overtime thriller over Colts

Man oh man, that was one for the ages, Chiefs Kingdom. In a Sunday night football game in Arrowhead that spanned the entirety of 70 game minutes and over three hours of real time, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs found a way to win over the relentless Indianapolis Colts.

While it wasn't always pretty, especially on the defensive side of the ball, being able to stack wins early in the season is the most important thing. And that's what the Chiefs have been doing through two weeks, unlike their AFC West counterparts, save for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Patrick Mahomes put up a truly vintage performance, throwing for over 380 yards on 32-of-47 passing with a trio of touchdowns. As well as a key 13-yard scramble that set the Chiefs up for the first of two Harrison Butker field goals in extra time.

While 15 looked more like vintage 15, Kenneth Walker once again powered the running game to the tune of over 170 scrimmage yards for his second straight game as a Chief. There was some more good, but also a healthy amount of bad in this one as well. So let's get into what's really worth taking away.

The Kansas City Chiefs looked like the offenses of old in Sunday night's 33-30 victory, but the defense faltered big time

Patrick Mahomes is back and in full force

It's almost like Mahomes is playing better than he did all of last year, save for a few-game stretch in the earlier part of the season. It's clear that in his second game back from ACL surgery, he felt more comfortable in the pocket and was more willing to push the ball down the field to his pass-catchers.

Not only is Mahomes, albeit through just two weeks, in poll position to win the Comeback Player of the Year award, but he's right up there in the MVP discussion after tonight's performance. In fact, this was the first game since Week 1 of the 2022 season that Mahomes has thrown for at least 350 yards and a trio of scores.

The Chiefs playmakers picked up the slack

We've already touched on Walker's impact on this game. And while he did not break off a 60-yard score, the level of two-way ability that he poses to defenses is truly scary. He is the only player so far this season with at least 300 yards from scrimmage (369).

If we are bringing up vintage Mahomes games, Travis Kelce was right there with him, putting up over 100 yards himself on nine grabs and a touchdown of his own. Kelce was Mahomes' security blanket all night, and as I said in the pregame preview, he was able to take advantage of the Colts' weaker second-level defense.

The wide receivers still left a lot to be desired what with the multiple drops that would have had Mahomes creeping up toward 500 passing yards. But the trio of Tyquan Thornton, Rashee Rice, and Xavier Worthy combined for 194 yards and a TD on 13 catches. No catch, bigger though than Thornton's 30-yarder on 3rd-and-12 during the first drive of OT.

Chiefs defense took a step back in every way possible

This young Kansas City defensive unit, led by Steve Spagnuolo, was riding high after holding the Broncos to just 10 points last week, forcing multiple turnovers and producing three sacks. Well, this week, they got dogwalked virtually the entire game.

Despite Alec Pierce's early exit, Daniel Jones had a fantastic outing, perhaps not to the same statistical level as Mahomes, but he made almost every play necessary to win the game in the end. He got the ball out on time versus the blitz and was as accurate as could be on many tight-window throws.

The Chiefs also allowed over 130 all-purpose yards to Jonathan Taylor and a pair of touchdowns to the Pro Bowl back. Aside from a very impressive early interception by Kristian Fulton, who was in for the "injured" Mansoor Delane, the Chiefs did not make many game-changing plays, failing to record a single sack, and recorded a handful of penalties as well.

Special teams is improving?

I'm still not overly confident in Dave Toub's special teams unit. They were penalized once again tonight for illegal formation, allowed a couple of big returns to the Colts, and Harrison Butker missed a 51-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

But compared to last week, when they seemed to record flag after flag and wound up being a net negative in the game, I'd say tonight slightly eased my concerns. What was also notable is that it was not Nikko Remigio next to Brashard Smith on kick returns tonight, but rookie running back Emmett Johnson, who certainly has more juice. Remigio remained the trusted punt returner.

Harrison Butker thankfully still has that clutch gene and was able to ice the game as time expired, sending the Colts home on a 40-yard game-winning boot.

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