Morning Coffee: Familiar faces lift Chiefs to another dominant win

The Kansas City Chiefs are inevitable.

After losing a pair of their most important weapons on offence early this season, there were plenty of NFL experts that wondered whether Kansas City would be able to overcome their losses and remain undefeated.

As it turns out, Patrick Mahomes and company didn’t miss a beat in a 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night Football.

Shortly after it was revealed that Rashee Rice could miss the remainder of the season due to injury, Mahomes delivered his best passing yards output of the season as he went 28-of-39 for 331 yards against the Saints.

Plenty of familiar faces stepped up for Kansas City on offence, while the defence blitzed Derek Carr relentlessly and held New Orleans to 13 points in the win.

The Chiefs improved to 5-0 straight up and 4-1 against the spread, becoming the first defending Super Bowl champion to begin a season with five straight wins since the New England Patriots in 2019.

Mahomes is the betting favourite to win NFL regular season MVP and Kansas City is the betting favourite to win the Super Bowl and complete a historic three-peat.

Can the Chiefs really continue to overcome key injuries and push towards the No. 1 overall seed with their sights set on another ring? 

Maybe Kansas City is due for regression at some point, but so far it’s clear that Mahomes, Andy Reid, and Steve Spagnuolo have transformed the Chiefs into an unstoppable machine that despite some key losses has shown no signs of slowing down.

This is the Morning Coffee for Tuesday October 8^th, 2024.

Familiar Faces Lift Chiefs To Another Dominant Win

After concerns about their long-term outlook dominating the pre-game broadcast conversation, the Chiefs responded with the type of vintage performance that reminded everybody around the league why they are still the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.

Mahomes threw for 331 yards – his most in a game since Week 7 of the 2023 season.

Travis Kelce registered nine receptions for 70 yards.

JuJu Smith-Schuster, the veteran receiver expected to take over the role vacated by the injured Rice, exploded for 130 yards on seven receptions.

For perspective, FanDuel set Smith-Schuster’s receiving props at over/under 1.5 receptions and 21.5 receiving yards.

Eight different playmakers caught a pass from Mahomes.

They combined for 237 yards after the catch – the fifth-most in any game in Mahomes’ career.

Meanwhile, veteran running back Kareem Hunt stepped up with 102 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries.

It was his first 100-yard rushing performance in four years.

For perspective, FanDuel set Hunt’s rushing props at over/under 41.5 yards and 11.5 attempts.

It was remarkable to watch the Chiefs turn back the clock with a pair of familiar faces last night.

It also helped that I had bet the overs and alt overs for both veteran playmakers.

Meanwhile, Spagnuolo’s familiarity with Carr dating back to his days as the starting quarterback for the Raiders paid off as the Kansas City defence blitzed on 45 per cent of his drop backs – the highest rate that Carr has faced in a game since 2020.

The Chiefs managed to speed up a lot of what Carr was looking to do on offence, and they managed to disrupt him enough to hold the Saints’ QB to 165 passing yards.

Meanwhile, Kansas City limited Alvin Kamara to 26 rushing yards on 11 attempts.

The Chiefs haven’t allowed a single running back to rush for 50 yards through the first five weeks of the season.

That has forced opponents to become one-dimensional and ultimately left them vulnerable to Spagnuolo’s blitzes.

The result is a defence that ranks among the top 10 in the league once again this season.

All of what we’ve seen from Kansas City on both sides of the football brings us to the most important question of them all this morning.

Is the Chiefs dominance sustainable?

There’s no doubt that the loss of Rice and Pacheco hurts.

At the same time, Kansas City’s remaining schedule is extremely manageable and if they can avoid any more season-ending injuries to key players they could very well be in excellent shape heading to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The Houston Texans are the only other team in the AFC with one or fewer losses through five weeks.

Ironically, the Texans are banged up too right now with Nico Collins joining Joe Mixon on the sideline this week.

Kansas City will host Houston in Week 16 in a game that could have major implications in the AFC.

Regardless of whether they are the No. 1 seed, the reality is that the Chiefs have the best quarterback in football, arguably the best coaching staff in football, and a ton of talent on both sides of the football even with Rice out.

Kansas City is down to +500 to win the Super Bowl from +550 entering Week 1 of the regular season.

As somebody who predicted a three-peat for the Chiefs, I’m certainly concerned about the mounting injuries.

At the same time, Kansas City is an absolute machine right now, and if Mahomes is healthy then that familiar sentiment will continue to ring true.

The Chiefs are inevitable.