On Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their season opener 20-3 to the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. Here are four quickly written takeaways from the game:
1. Patrick Mahomes is whiffing on backup offensive tackles
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked uncomfortable from the pocket against the Seahawks, and it’s a reminder that his presence and confidence in the pocket can be temporarily skewed when he doesn’t know who is guarding him. We’ve seen it throughout his career when backups are plugged in; it can take him a while to adjust, and he didn’t seem to settle into this game until the fourth quarter.
Mahomes finished with five yards per pass attempt and a passer rating of 58.3, the fifth-lowest mark of his career in both categories. Mahomes has played in 131 career games.
Mahomes threw a handful of off-target passes in the first half, including two suspiciously bad throws to tight end Travis Kelce. There was another deep wide attempt from Xavier Worthy which was very short and inside. At one point, Mahomes threw five consecutive incompletions, including an interception.
On a second-and-10 play late in the second quarter, Mahomes moved to the left and attempted to throw into a tight sideline window, but he scrambled as safety Nick Emmanwori went down. A lack of proper shoulder turn left the pass floating into the safety’s hands over the top.
On third-and-7 later in the third quarter, Mahomes came out of a messy pocket, but disregarded a Seattle pass as he tried to run toward the sideline with the ball off his body. The Chiefs fortunately recovered the ensuing fumble, but it was an example of Mahomes not playing like himself in Seattle.
The offense struggled overall, but Mahomes failed to elevate his game to make up for the deficiencies around him. This includes taking care of the ball; two turnovers by the signal-caller are unacceptable in a low-scoring defensive battle.
2. There needs to be a solution to covering slot receivers
Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba further proved himself to be one of the best offensive players in the game on Sunday night. Two of his biggest plays were incredible catches and throws down the sideline against cornerback Mansoor Delane. The rookie fought hard on both, but Smith-Njigba outplayed him on two important plays.
It will happen. The Chiefs defense needed to do better to prevent Smith-Njigba — and other Seattle receivers — from catching quick throws up the middle. This happened an inexcusable number of times on Sunday evening. The Seahawks started the game on September 11 with third downs relying on throws over the middle of the field to Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp.
Kansas City’s primary culprit was cornerback L’Jarius Sneed. His physicality off the line, disrupting routes and timing, is less useful in the slot when receivers have a back-and-forth and are generally not lined up at the line of scrimmage. After a game like this, the question arises: Should Delane or Nohl Williams start seeing slot coverage reps? Sneed can be more solid in boundary coverage.
At one point, the Chiefs started Kristian Fulton on Smith-Njigba in the second half. Sneed was not on the field for a third down stop early in the fourth quarter. Adjustments in the secondary may already be underway.
3. The Chiefs lost the third down battle on both ends
It was easy to see the Chiefs defense struggling to get off the field, and the offense reflected that by starting 0/5 on third down and finishing 3/11. Kansas City didn’t get past Seattle’s 40-yard line until four minutes remained in the third quarter.
Emmanwori interrupted a third-and-1 rollout by reading the play in an instant and covering both Mahomes’ scramble and Walker as a pass option. It reminds us that this Super Bowl champion’s defense is elite in every way, including knowing the tendencies of an offense. The Chiefs created very little open space.
On third-and-8 in the second half, Kansas City took a screen pass to Walker to set up a fourth-and-short conversion. This reflected the lack of open targets on the field all night, especially on passing downs. As a result, Walker had to carry the load for the team’s pass catchers as a controlling option. He finished with a team-high four catches, but only for 21 yards.
Tight ends Travis Kelce and Noah Gray combined for six catches for 85 yards. Fullbacks and tight ends were Mahomes’ only outlets in Seattle; the Chiefs wide receivers had 39 yards on 13 targets. We’ll see if a matchup with the Denver Broncos’ pass defense is more fruitful for the team’s receivers, or if general manager Brett Veach will be active before the November 10 trade deadline.
4. The Chiefs should compete with Harrison Butker
Harrison Butker’s two misses in this match were crucial. Before halftime, after cornerback Nohl Williams intercepted and returned the ball to set up a last-second attempt, Butker left a 58-yard field goal short.
After kicking a 50-yard field goal to put Kansas City on the board in the second half, the Chiefs turned to Butker to bring the game back to one possession with less than nine minutes to play. He drove the field goal 45 yards to the right, dooming any comeback attempts while keeping the score at 13-3.
If Butker’s range is limited, as well as being unreliable from mid-range, the team will have to be honest with itself about trusting Butker in big games later in the season.
Gn sports
