Seven months after a glorious Super Bowl victory by the Chiefs, the 2020-21 NFL season opener has finally been brought upon us! At 8:20 p.m est, the lights shined brighter than the sun itself and the National Anthem was heard all over the nation. After the coin was flipped and as the kickoff commenced, the season officially began as the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Houston Texans. 2020 has been a painful year for a majority of people all across the world and maybe this football season could be the glimmer of hope that it will all become better from here.
With that being said, let’s review this spectacular showing and grade each team respectively.
1st Quarter: Chiefs: 0 Texans: 7
The Texans received the ball first which brought upon the beginning of the new season. The first drive of the game resulted in a three-and-out thanks to spectacular pressure by the defensive line. Then, on the Texans’ next drive, David Johnson burst through the Chiefs defense for a 19-yard touchdown.
After that drive, the Chiefs’ offense steamrolled down the field due to Kelce catching a 15-yard reception, then Watkins caught a 10-yard pass for a first down, Helaire came up with an 18-yard run, and finally, Watkins caught a second pass for 13 yards.
2nd Quarter: Chiefs: 17 Texans: 7
Not even a minute into the quarter Mahomes sends a bullet to Kelce for a 6-yard KC TOUCHDOWN! What’s this? On the Texans’ first drive of this quarter, Chris Jones has a monstrous sack for a 4-yard loss and it resulted in a turnover-on-downs.
After a long and brutal drive, Mahomes was able to flick a pass straight to Watkins for a two-yard touchdown pass which gave the Chiefs a seven-point lead! The drive dried up a good amount of the fuel for the Texans’ defense and those were all smart play calls by the coaching staff and Mahomes!
The Texans’ kicker Fairbairn misses a 51-yard field goal attempt that put Mahomes and the offense in an amazing position with still all three of their timeouts remaining. To close the half, Butker kicks in a beautiful 29-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a two-possession lead! What an amazing 1st half to start the season.
3rd Quarter: Chiefs: 24 Texans: 7
The first drive of the second half ends with a spectacular 27-yard touchdown run by Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a 17-point lead! Mahomes saw something in him and all fans are in agreement that the front office listens to Mahomes’ recommendations. The Chiefs we’ve always known are now back in business!
The whole quarter moved slowly overall, but the defense played exceptionally. Clark has been chasing after Watson this whole game and the whole defensive line is making him run to the hills and for his life. Great quarter for the whole Chiefs offense!
4th Quarter: Chiefs: 34 Texans: 20
On the first play of the quarter, Mathieu pressed and knocked down Watson to force a spectacular interception by rookie CB L’Jarius Sneed. He was able to return it for 39 yards. It was the first turnover of the game and the NFL season. Great job Sneed!
Thanks to Sneed and the defense, the Chiefs are now in the red zone ready to bolster that lead. After a confusing drive full of penalties and third-down conversions, Mahomes lobs a pass for Hill for another Chiefs’ TOUCHDOWN! The Chiefs have all but closed this game with a dominant 24-point lead.
It took a long while, but Watson has able to complete a 19-yard touchdown pass to TE Jordan Akins. The Texans then tried a 2-point conversion, yet the pass fell incomplete which still gives the Chiefs an 18-point lead.
The next Texans’ drive ended up in a one-yard walk-in touchdown from Watson. After the extra point went through the uprights, the Chiefs now held an 11-point lead. While there is barely any time left, the Chiefs can’t slack at all.
With another start within the red zone (on the 20-yard line), the Chiefs could easily regain the lead they once had. Due to Helaire’s exceptional 14-yard run, the Chiefs are now set at the 3-yard line. Sadly, the Chiefs weren’t able to capitalize and they had to settle for only a field goal. The Chiefs now have the lead by 14.
As the final whistle blew, the season opener has now come to an end. The Chiefs take home their first win of the season and now Chiefs’ fans everywhere are excited for what awaits for them in the future.
Now, let’s grade how each team did.
Kansas City Chiefs: A-
Patrick Mahomes played exceptionally well with passing for 211 yards, 3 touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins, and Tyreek Hill respectively each caught a touchdown pass with Kelce leading all receivers with 82 receiving yards.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to forget about the type of game Clyde Edwards-Helaire had as he rushed for 138 yards, a touchdown, and 5.5 yard average per run in his first-ever game! The future looks bright for the young running back.
The defense was able to hold their own and stop the Texans offense throughout the majority of the game. Chris Jones led the way for the defensive line with 1.5 sacks, Tyrann Mathieu was able to force Watson to throw an interception to L’Jarius Sneed, and every player on that defense played their part to shut them down. I would’ve given the Chiefs a higher grade if they didn’t allow those two touchdowns by Watson during garbage time, but a win is a win.
Houston Texans: D+
Throughout the majority of the game, the Texans offense played atrociously. Sure they had their large plays and good drives, but a majority of their points came during garbage time when the game was too far away and nearly impossible to win. With that said we have to give credit to David Johnson who played well in his first game as a Texan with 77 rushing yards and a touchdown to top it off. Will Fuller also deserves props as he had attributed to almost half of Watson’s passing yards while averaging 14 yards per catch.
The defense… where do I even begin? They couldn’t keep up with the Chiefs’ offense even if their lives depended on it. They allowed over 150+ rushing yards, allowed Mahomes to drive down the field like it was nothing, and gave receivers open route lanes like it was no tomorrow. While it was the Chiefs offense that is well known for destroying defenses, I thought they would put up more of a fight defensively. The defense was the main cause of their utter defeat and atrocious grade.
Thanks so much for reading and have a pleasant day!
