The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Washington Commanders Saturday 24-14 at Arrowhead Stadium. The first team offense and defense once again had a spectacular performance.
Chiefs’ Offense
The first-team offense had two great drives with Patrick Mahomes at the helm, Mahomes went for 12/19 with 162 yards and two touchdowns as he was electric during his time on the field on Saturday. Again Justin Watson was a standout in the receiving game, he caught two passes for 53 yards, and one was a bomb on a post route putting the offense into the red zone. But the star of the day was, Jody Fortson, he had a phenomenal performance scoring two touchdowns on tough catches. Both the team and media were buzzed to see him play so well, and he seems to be a viable weapon for the Chiefs to use in the red zone going forward.
The first team offense looked sharp, executing on scoring drives like they would in the regular season. Even though the offense didn’t have JuJu Smith-Schuster or Mecole Hardman, the offense hasn’t skipped a beat yet. Mahomes and his receivers seem to be on the same page, what was once seen as a possible issue for the offense, seems to be a strength. The running game has been an issue, the right side of the offensive line hasn’t been able to sustain blocks and sometimes the ball carrier has missed the running lane. As the Chiefs move towards the regular season, look to see if the offense tries to shuffle around more pieces to get the running game going. Once again the starting offense gets an A rating for scoring on both of its drives in the game. The offense needs to find the right formula to run the ball effectively, but Mahomes looks like he’s in midseason form.
Chiefs’ Defense
The starting defense was without Chris Jones and Carlos Dunlap, both were dealing with injuries, but it didn’t seem like they were missing. The rookie phenom “Furious” George Karlaftis showed once again why he’s going to have an impact this season. Karlaftis got another sack in the first quarter off and beat a double-team to get to the quarterback. Karlaftis possesses a great motor and with his willingness to learn from the veterans, he will be a key reason the Chiefs will take back to the “Sack Nation” moniker they haven’t had in a couple of seasons.
The secondary once again had a solid performance, not allowing the opposing wide receivers to make any significant plays, they looked a lot better than they did last week. The defensive backs were active in tipping and deflecting passes and finally got their first turnover. Chris Lammons, a reserve defensive back, intercepted Sam Howell on a drive the Commanders needed to get in a position to win the game. The defensive backs really stepped up this week and hopefully, this game was something to build off of after the poor showing they had in Chicago.
Linebacker Nick Bolton stated he knows the defense still has a long way to go, however, the pace they play at and how aggressive they are, it will be exciting to watch. The defense has been impressive so far, they have been willing to get physical in the running and passing game. They have a swagger that they have been missing over the past couple of seasons, and they seem to be gelling this preseason which is good news for the Cheifs. The Defense gets an A+ rating after how good they have been looking, and let’s see if this carries over into the regular season.
The Chiefs have one preseason game left against the Packers coming up on Thursday. There is no idea of what they have planned coming up for this next game, however, there is a possibility no starters play. If the first team gets any reps, it will only be for one possession. There’s no reason for them to play more, but the coaches might want to see some players play for their position on the depth chart. As of now, both first-team units have looked phenomenal in the preseason and they are looking to carry that into the season on Sunday, September 11th.
