The Kansas City Chiefs got back in the win column on Sunday with a dominant victory over the Washington Football Team that included impressive performances in all three phases.
Here are some quick notes about the game.
1. The defense balled out, particularly in the second half.
We'll discuss the Chiefs' offensive performance in a moment, but the defense deserves credit for what they were able to accomplish on Sunday. Washington – which was averaging 353 yards and 24.6 points-per-game entering the contest – was held to just 276 total yards and 13 points.
That defensive effort kept Kansas City in the game while the offense was struggling early, and it only got better as the game went on. The Chiefs yielded just 76 yards in the second half – the seventh-fewest in the second half of a game for any team this season – and zero points.
2. Patrick Mahomes bounced back from some early struggles to have a great game.
Mahomes tossed a couple of interceptions early, but once the second half got started, he started to look like his generationally-talented self.
He completed 32-of-47 passes for 397 yards and two touchdowns in the game, becoming only the second player since 2018 to tally 18+ touchdown passes through the first six games of a season. Seattle Seahawks' quarterback Russell Wilson did so last season (22 touchdowns), but Mahomes has now done so twice in that span (he also accomplished the feat in 2018) while no player other than Wilson has done so at all.
3. Travis Kelce made some more NFL history.
Kelce quietly reached a fairly impressive milestone on Sunday, becoming the 11th fastest player in the Super Bowl Era to record 650+ career catches, doing so in just 117 games. The only players to do so quicker were Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Marvin Harrison, DeAndre Hopkins, Andre Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Brandon Marshall, Torry Holt, Keenan Allen and Larry Fitzgerald.
The All-Pro tight end hauled in a season-high eight catches for 99 yards on Sunday.
4. Tyreek Hill keeps moving up in the franchise record books.
Hill caught a team-leading nine passes on Sunday, which was enough to push him past Otis Taylor for the fifth-most receptions in franchise history. Hill's 414 career grabs trail only Tony Gonzalez (916), Travis Kelce (650), Dwayne Bowe (532) and Henry Marshall (416).
The speedy Hill currently leads the NFL in receptions (46) while ranking third in receiving yards (592) and fourth in receiving touchdowns (5).
5. Mahomes spread the ball around once again on Sunday.
Hill and Kelce were two of eight pass-catchers to haul in a reception on Sunday. In fact, five different players (Kelce [99], Hill [76], Mecole Hardman [62], Byron Pringle [55] and Demarcus Robinson [46]) recorded at least 40 receiving yards in the game.
Robinson caught Mahomes' final touchdown of the day, hauling in a 24-yard strike that essentially put the game away.
6. Darrel Williams certainly made the most of his first career start.
Williams earned the first start of his career on Sunday in lieu of the injured Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and it was clear that he was determined to make it count. Williams tallied 89 yards from scrimmage (62 rushing, 27 receiving) and two touchdowns in the game while playing with a certain intensity that characterized the Chiefs' overall performance in the second half.
He racked up 49 of his 62 rushing yards after contact in the game and played an instrumental role in the Chiefs' back-to-back scoring drives that took the lead in the second half, touching the ball seven times.
7. The offense was nails on third down.
Kansas City has been exceptional on third down this season and Sunday was no different. The Chiefs converted 11-of-17 third down chances, racking up the third-most conversions by any team in a single game this season. They managed to convert a bunch of those consecutively, too, as the Chiefs moved the chains on eight-straight third down chances during their offensive explosion in the second half.
The Chiefs are converting on third down at a 60.3 percent clip this season, which leads the NFL and is more than 10 percent ahead of second place.
8. It all added up to an impressive offensive performance despite a slow start.
The Chiefs struggled initially, but once they got going, there was no stopping them. Kansas City racked up 499 yards and 29 first downs in the contest, becoming just the sixth team this season to tally such a stat line and only the second to do so in a game that didn't require overtime.
Additionally, Kansas City completed multiple touchdown drives of 95+ yards on Sunday for the first time since at least 2001.
9. Harrison Butker continues to be perfect.
Butker has quietly been tremendous this season, connecting on all six of his field goal attempts and all 23 of his extra point tries. That success actually goes all the way back to Week 12 of last season, as the fifth-year kicker has made 16 consecutive field goals in that span.
His performance on Sunday included a 52-yard boot, marking his 15th successful kick of 50 or more yards during his young career. Only Nick Lowery (20) tallied more such kicks in franchise history.
10. Tershawn Wharton ended the game with an exclamation point.
The Chiefs punctuated their strong defensive performance with a takeaway on Sunday, as Wharton picked off Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke on the Football Team's penultimate possession of the game. It was the first interception of Wharton's career, and judging by the difficulty of the play, the takeaway was certainly one of the more memorable defensive moments of the season.
It all added up to a complete victory on Sunday as all three phases contributed to the winning effort, and now with a trip to Tennessee on deck, Kansas City will look to keep things rolling.
