With a huge victory over the Raiders in Las Vegas, there were three Chiefs who were able to steal the show and close down the Las Vegas Strip on Sunday Night.
The Kansas City Chiefs are back, not like the Texas Longhorns or the Miami Hurricanes, but actually back. The Chiefs absolutely dismantled the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday football by a score of 41-14. The entire team played well, both sides of the ball had great moments throughout the night and there were a lot of standout performances. But I am here to only point out three performances from the night where the Chiefs took back the AFC West.
3. Darrell Williams
Darrell the Barrel has been a solid running back for the Chiefs over the past month, but he has been seen as a one-dimensional back, a straight-ahead back who can get yardage after contact. But this week he had an amazing game on the ground and in the air, he had a career-high in receiving yards and had this amazing catch.
Williams may have his playing time cut down because of Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s return upcoming, but he has proven to be a sure-handed back who can make a lot of big plays. I’m excited to see if he can build on these consistent plays and carve out a more defined role in the offense going forward.
2. Tyrann Mathieu
Tyrann Mathieu has had a couple of great weeks for the Chiefs, but this week he was back to his normal Top-3 safety self against the Raiders. Mathieu lined up all over the place all of Sunday night and was super effective in stopping the run and pass. He helped to limit Darren Waller’s production to 3 receptions and 11 yards.
Badger played everywhere and finally seems to be comfortable in his role, he was able to take strategic chances which paid off all night. He was able to get a bunch of tackles and save a first down a couple of times. He was aggressive and playing back to his normal self, which is a huge boost to the secondary which has struggled throughout the season.
1. Patrick Lavon Mahomes II
Has the league figured out Patrick Mahomes?
He has the worst mechanics in the league!
Mahomes is a fraud!!!
Mahomes heard all the noise and decided to drop a vintage performance with 406 yards and 5 touchdowns in Las Vegas. Patrick Mahomes has had an off-year so far this season and the last drive against the Packers seemed to have cleaned the cobwebs, he looked confident in the pocket and delivered over and over again to get the Chiefs on top of the division. Mahomes looked comfortable in the pocket, delivered on target, and was able to get his targets big gains all night.
He even played the hits, throwing a left-handed pass on third down on the first drive which ended in a punt, but it showed he was comfortable in the offense and was confident enough to make a wacky play. Patrick Mahomes has not shown that comfortability all season and today he looked like he did against Cleveland in week 1, throwing with confidence and getting the ball out quick. We haven’t seen Mahomes look like this since then and it’s a great sign for the Chiefs and to Chiefs’ Kingdom that he looks like his old self.
He is the standout performance because he was able to earn player of the week honors and finally get back to the top of the AFC West, right where the Chiefs belong.