This week’s most interesting note about the Kansas City Chiefs comes from CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco — who doesn’t exactly have a pro-Chiefs reputation.
The reality is the Chiefs just keep on winning. And, if you look at their schedule, other than a road date in a few weeks with the Buffalo Bills, the games are all winnable. If they win that Buffalo game, they have a real chance to go undefeated.
And even then, the doubters will probably say the team isn’t that good.
Here’s this week’s sampling:
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This is not so much a demotion of the Chiefs as it is an admission that the Lions feel more dangerous right now. Patrick Mahomes was better Sunday, Travis Kelce had a throwback game and DeAndre Hopkins offered some hope in his Kansas City debut. Hopkins caught just two passes and wasn’t targeted in the second half, but the trade acquisition played a decent amount (22 snaps) and had gains of 13 and 16 yards. The Chiefs still could use another receiver to help out, though. JuJu Smith-Schuster (hamstring) being out likely forced Hopkins into getting more run in his first game, with Justin Watson leading the WR group in snaps but catching only three passes. Kansas City’s run game slowed down considerably, once again leaving this contest in the hands of the defense. No sweat. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit earned two key red-zone stops, racked up five sacks, erased Las Vegas’ run game and forced a key Raiders fumble late to help ice the game. Just another Chiefs win with the same formula.
— Eric Edholm
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Best offseason addition: Wide receiver Xavier Worthy
Worthy, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick, leads the team in touchdowns with five. He has delivered some big plays when the Chiefs needed them, and his deep speed has helped open up some targets for other receivers. He hasn’t been a high-volume receiver, with 19 catches in seven games, but it’s possible that part of his game will come with development, as he’s still only 21.
— Adam Teicher
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Something Scary: It’s still the wide receivers
DeAndre Hopkins had two catches for 29 yards in his first game as a Chief. He’ll get better as he gets more familiar with Patrick Mahomes’ improvisational style. However, it might only get so good. The 32-year-old Hopkins has topped 750 yards in a season just once in his last four full seasons. He had 202 yards in seven games last year. He’s never had a quarterback like Mahomes, but he will probably never be 2018 DeAndre Hopkins again.
— Josh Kendall
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The Joshua Uche trade was another clean single for the Chiefs’ front office, which catches a lot of flak—even from me—for perceived inaction. However, Uche was a hidden gem around the trade deadline a year ago and I think he fits in well with this front of amoebic, talented individuals who can be in a million different places, rush the quarterback situationally and muddy up life for opposing QBs and coordinators hoping to gash this team with easy completions.
— Conor Orr
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They look beatable every week, and yet no one can beat them.
— Mike Florio
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The addition of Josh Uche will help a pass rush that hasn’t quite been what was expected before the season. He’s a quality veteran who has had double-digit sacks in his career.
— Pete Prisco
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The gap between the Lions and Chiefs is very small. The Chiefs remain here because they keep winning and the defense has been very good. But Detroit came very close to grabbing the top spot this week.
— Frank Schwab
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The Chiefs are methodical about taking care of their opponents, finishing them off however they need to offensively and recovering from whatever lapses they might have defensively. The back-to-back Super Bowl champions remain scary because it’s clear they’re saving something in the tank for the playoffs again.
— Vinnie Iyer
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Guess who now owns the most receptions (945) among active players? Travis Kelce — after his breakout 10-catch performance in Sunday’s win at Las Vegas. And also DeAndre Hopkins after his two-grab Kansas City debut in Sunday’s win at Las Vegas. Not only that, the Chiefs also just acquired LB Josh Uche, who averages roughly six sacks and 17 pressures per 17 games, to a top-five defense that continues to anchor the champs. Kansas City still hasn’t truly put together a dominant performance, yet there still hasn’t been a losing one, either.
— Nate Davis
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Same old, same old for the Kansas City Chiefs. It wasn’t a pretty win, but they managed to go to Las Vegas and get a “W” against the last team to beat them.
The Chiefs have now won 13 straight games since being upset by the Raiders on Christmas 2023, and it might be a while before they lose another game.
— Marcus Mosher
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