The Chiefs get off to a 5-0 start with a decisive win over the Saints
The Kansas City Chiefs remain undefeated with their third prime-time win of the season against the New Orleans Saints 26-13. Here are four takeaways from the Chiefs’ week five victory.
Defensive line play
The defensive line showed up to play once again on Monday night. Kansas City limited Saints’ running back Alvin Kamara to just 26 yards on 11 carries. Kamara ranked No. 66 in the NFL in yards this season coming into Monday night’s game.
This continues a trend of the Chiefs’ defensive line controlling games. Going into the game, they were ranked third in the league for rushing yards allowed per game, even after facing four of the top 10 runners this season.
The receivers
Many questions surrounded the Chiefs’ offensive weapons after a severe injury sustained by wide receiver Rashee Rice in the previous week. These questions were put to bed thanks to strong performances by both wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Travis Kelce. Smith-Schuster, pulled in seven receptions for 130 yards. This is the most yards in a single game for Kansas City in his career, and the most in a game since week 14 of the 2018 season.
Kelce continued his momentum from last week with nine receptions for 70 yards. However, Kelce could not find the end zone yet again and now has no touchdowns in the first five games of the season.
The red zone issues
The score remained within reach all night due to poor efficiency in the red zone by Kansas City. The Chiefs visited the red zone seven times and ran 19 total plays inside the 20, however, they only scored a touchdown twice throughout the game. This resulted in New Orleans staying within striking distance well into the fourth quarter.
This culminated in the third quarter when Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw to Smith-Schuster and the ball bounced off his hands at the goal line. The ball was picked off by former Chiefs’ defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, returning the ball to the New Orleans 35-yard line. The Saints then went down the field to score a touchdown, cutting the Kansas City lead to three in the 4th quarter.
Other keys to the game
Kareem Hunt continued to fill in for the injured Isiah Pacheco, rushing for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Mahomes led the passing attack, throwing 28/39 for 331 yards along with 25 rushing yards (excluding his three kneel outs to drain the last couple of minutes in the game. However, Mahomes threw for no touchdowns for the first time on the season plus an interception on the play at the goal line. This results in a troubling 1:1 TD-INT ratio for Mahomes so far this season.
The defense also held down in coverage quite well, holding quarterback Derek Carr to 165 yards, 43 of which came on a deep touchdown pass to wide receiver Rashid Shaheed. This marked the third week in a row Kansas City has allowed under 20 points.
Next Week
After a bye week, the Chiefs will travel to San Francisco to take on the 49ers in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl on Sunday, Oct. 20.
Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Emily Skidmore | eskidmore@themaneater.com