5 things we learned from Chiefs v Texans

[xen 1,010,219]

5 things we learned from Chiefs-Texans on opening night

Patrick Mahomes is still the king.

By James Dator  Sep 11, 2020, 9:55am EDT 

 

2 Comments

 

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2020/9/11/21432106/chiefs-texans-opening-night-clyde-edwards-helaire-patrick-mahomes-deshaun-watson

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

The first game of the NFL season is in the books with a limited crowd at Arrowhead Stadium. When the dust settled it more or less played out how most people expected, with the Chiefs beating the Texans 34-20 in a game where KC’s powerful offense was on full display.

We also learned a lot from two AFC playoff teams a year ago, and in many ways the game on Thursday night will set the tone for what we could see out of the season.

No. 1: Any hopes for a Patrick Mahomes drop-off are out the window.

We’re conditioned to believe that whenever a player has a season like Mahomes did in 2019 there’s bound to be some sort of regression. It didn’t take long for the Chiefs’ QB to prove that isn’t going to happen.

While Mahomes only threw for 211 yards on the night, it wasn’t so much the volume, but the efficiency that tells the story here. The dude was simply on fire, completing 75 percent of his passes and connecting on three touchdowns without a turnover. The reliability of Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce is still a nightmare for defenses when paired with a QB with the accuracy of Mahomes.

Normally you can point to a way to rattle or isolate a quarterback to get him out of his rhythm, but it’s seemingly impossible in this case. Mahomes is going to do what he wants, when he wants on the gridiron, and teams are going to have to come up with ways to hope to slow that. There’s no beating it, only contain — and while 211 yards passing is pretty much the definition of “containing” Mahomes, he still made everything look way too easy.

No. 2: The decision to trade DeAndre Hopkins is going to be questioned all season.

Let me preface this by saying that David Johnson really isn’t bad. In the grand scheme of things he’s an effective and solid running back for the Texans. The issue here is that all night long it was apparent that DeShaun Watson is in desperate need of a reliable second target.

Will Fuller broke out big time on Thursday night and proved he can be a top flight No. 1 receiver, but after that the gap was precipitous. The Texans had hoped that trading Hopkins, moving Fuller to the No. 1 and trading for Brandin Cooks to be their No. 2 would pay dividends, but in the end Cooks managed just two catches for 20 yards.

There’s an argument to be made that Cooks wasn’t completely healthy entering Thursday, but either way this is going to be a talking point all season long. Especially if this issue keeps rearing its head and Watson remains in dire need of another target.

No. 3: Clyde Edwards-Helaire is the real deal.

It takes a ton of guts to put the fate of your running game in the hands of a rookie, especially when you’re as accomplished as the Chiefs. While there was a lot of belief Edwards-Helaire could be excellent, he really showed it off on a national stage.

Finishing with 138 yards rushing on the night, the rookie showed that a terrifying Chiefs’ offense could somehow become even more unstoppable. The threat of his home run ability from the backfield, paired with Mahomes’ arm makes the idea of stopping this team unbelievable. Both players are able to take the pressure off each other, which manifested itself with the efficiency in which the Chiefs’ offense ran.

 

It’s important not to put too much stock in one game, but right now Edwards-Helaire looks like the steal of the draft.

No. 4: The Texans’ pass rush remains a problem.

On paper there’s no reason the Texans should have issues getting to the quarterback. After all, they have J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus — two players who can go off. On Thursday night there was a distinct lack of pressure, bringing Mahomes down just once and letting him have a safe pocket for much of the night.

Facing the Chiefs Week 1 is enough to demoralize any defense’s pass rushing ability, but this is still going to be something to watch moving forward. The Texans can certainly compete in the AFC South regardless of their weaknesses, but when it comes to tough teams they’re going to need a lot more to stay in games.

No. 5: Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ pass rush is a problem in different ways.

For other teams.

Seriously, I don’t know how much more I can gush over this team. Watson was under constant pressure all night and really never found a comfortable place to lead the Houston offense.

Finishing with four sacks on the night, Kansas City proved they can beat teams in myriad ways — making them truly the nightmare team of the NFL. At this point there’s zero reason to believe they won’t repeat as Super Bowl champs until someone finds a way to slow them down.

Whether that’s possible or not remains to be seen.

[sith13 1,746]

We also learned that our LBs are crap, once that's fixed I don't see any real competition against the Chiefs. 

[jetlord 10,207]

Agree that LB is the biggest problem along with CBs that don't include either Breeland or Ward for a while.  What was missing in point four in the OP is that Mahomes got the ball out quicker than any time that I can remember.  The Texans' pass rush was okay, but the ball was already out. 

[xen 1,010,219]

1 minute ago, jetlord said:

Agree that LB is the biggest problem along with CBs that don't include either Breeland or Ward for a while.  What was missing in point four in the OP is that Mahomes got the ball out quicker than any time that I can remember.  The Texans' pass rush was okay, but the ball was already out. 

I assume that was mostly due to the fucked up offseason and Reid wanting to establish an early season rhythm.

[xen 1,010,219]

7 minutes ago, sith13 said:

We also learned that our LBs are crap, once that's fixed I don't see any real competition against the Chiefs. 

yeah our linebackers are ... well, not good.  So slow.  Can't wait to see the rook.

[jetlord 10,207]

26 minutes ago, xen said:

yeah our linebackers are ... well, not good.  So slow.  Can't wait to see the rook.

Would love to know Spags reasoning for keeping Gay off the field with a 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter.  Maybe some sort of discipline that wasn't know to us?

[Thegoatee 1,780]

I am not really sure why people think Fuller is going to be a #1 WR. His only talent at ND and NFL is streak patterns. Houston didn’t run the ball enough. David Johnson was their only bright spot.

I think teams that truly commit to running will kill our defense. Ravens and Titans will be tough. We are temporarily thin at CB, but our pass rush and coverage is generally good. If teams are forced to throw to catch up, we will feast.

[xen 1,010,219]

4 hours ago, jetlord said:

Would love to know Spags reasoning for keeping Gay off the field with a 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter.  Maybe some sort of discipline that wasn't know to us?

Could be hes just not ready.

[jetlord 10,207]

58 minutes ago, xen said:

Could be hes just not ready.

Maybe, but then why was he on the active roster for the game if he couldn't learn from experience gained in garbage time?  Not questioning the Chiefs' staff, they know what they want to do, but just curious. 

[Calichief 3,016]

6 hours ago, xen said:

yeah our linebackers are ... well, not good.  So slow.  Can't wait to see the rook.

DOD, who I’ve been clamoring for, should get more snaps also. He brings a little speed. The times I noticed him against Houston, he was chasing though. Not sure if he’s going going to pan out either. Haven’t seen him sniff anything out any his limited chances. Rather see him than the same linebackers doing the same shit they have been doing ..

[Lamardirts 2,114]

2 hours ago, Thegoatee said:

I am not really sure why people think Fuller is going to be a #1 WR. His only talent at ND and NFL is streak patterns. Houston didn’t run the ball enough. David Johnson was their only bright spot.

I think teams that truly commit to running will kill our defense. Ravens and Titans will be tough. We are temporarily thin at CB, but our pass rush and coverage is generally good. If teams are forced to throw to catch up, we will feast.

They committed to the run even though they were down 31-7 and inspite of our lbs held them in check.    Gonna be hard for any team to keep up with this O.   We could have hung 50 on those guys last night.    Barring injury we are a juggernaut.  

[Thegoatee 1,780]

14 hours ago, Lamardirts said:

They committed to the run even though they were down 31-7 and inspite of our lbs held them in check.    Gonna be hard for any team to keep up with this O.   We could have hung 50 on those guys last night.    Barring injury we are a juggernaut.  

It seemed that way, but David Johnson only had 11 carries. Duke had 5. Watson threw it 32 times. Andy Reid may have run the ball more in the first half than Texans did whole game.

[Palangi 788]

17 hours ago, Thegoatee said:

I am not really sure why people think Fuller is going to be a #1 WR. His only talent at ND and NFL is streak patterns. Houston didn’t run the ball enough. David Johnson was their only bright spot.

I think teams that truly commit to running will kill our defense. Ravens and Titans will be tough. We are temporarily thin at CB, but our pass rush and coverage is generally good. If teams are forced to throw to catch up, we will feast.

Getting Pennel back in 2 weeks will help a ton

[Palangi 788]

21 hours ago, sith13 said:

We also learned that our LBs are crap, once that's fixed I don't see any real competition against the Chiefs. 

I'd like to see Gay take the MLB spot from Hitchens.  Wilson is ok at SLB. Then let DOD and his speed man the WLB. Let him run and chase.  

Bring darius Harris up from the practice squad to battle with Wilson.  

Let the hungry young guys push the old guard.  And if they don't want to figure it out turn it over

[sith13 1,746]

49 minutes ago, Palangi said:

I'd like to see Gay take the MLB spot from Hitchens.  Wilson is ok at SLB. Then let DOD and his speed man the WLB. Let him run and chase.  

Bring darius Harris up from the practice squad to battle with Wilson.  

Let the hungry young guys push the old guard.  And if they don't want to figure it out turn it over

It sure can't get any worse than this, let the youngsters come up with some fire.

[Lamardirts 2,114]

After watching Patrick Queen get some run with Balt,  I’d like to see some sink or swim Gay next week.   Let him play and let him make mistakes, we are good enough as a team to cover them.  We will need him come playoff time.  Balt looks stout and Gay is one of the few NFL LBs that can spy him.   Our three LBs combined for a 93 PFF grade......three guys off the street could do that.

[Handswarmer 645]

"it was the (insert pro team name here)"- Oldtimer

[Handswarmer 645]

15 hours ago, Lamardirts said:

After watching Patrick Queen get some run with Balt,  I’d like to see some sink or swim Gay next week.   Let him play and let him make mistakes, we are good enough as a team to cover them.  We will need him come playoff time.  Balt looks stout and Gay is one of the few NFL LBs that can spy him.   Our three LBs combined for a 93 PFF grade......three guys off the street could do that.

Queen lived up top expectations. I agree, give Gay a chance.

[xen 1,010,219]

6 minutes ago, Handswarmer said:

Queen lived up top expectations. I agree, give Gay a chance.

All we are saying... is give Gay a chance...

[DieHard 2,061]

It seems like 2 choices. 1. The guys who know where to be but can’t get there. 2. The guys that don’t know where to be but have the wheels to get there. 
 

Case #1 will not improve by getting Hitch/Wilson half a season of snaps. Case #2 just might improve with getting Gay/DOD lots of snaps.

[SEMO 6,811]

54 minutes ago, xen said:

All we are saying... is give Gay a chance...

You first.

[kkuenn 3,597]

3 minutes ago, DieHard said:

It seems like 2 choices. 1. The guys who know where to be but can’t get there. 2. The guys that don’t know where to be but have the wheels to get there. 
 

Case #1 will not improve by getting Hitch/Wilson half a season of snaps. Case #2 just might improve with getting Gay/DOD lots of snaps.

DOD has had plenty of time to show it before. Situational at best any more. Give Gay the chances. 

 

[DieHard 2,061]

35 minutes ago, kkuenn said:

DOD has had plenty of time to show it before. Situational at best any more. Give Gay the chances. 

 

I agree with that. 

[KC Warpaint 3,234]

On 9/12/2020 at 8:20 PM, Thegoatee said:

I am not really sure why people think Fuller is going to be a #1 WR. His only talent at ND and NFL is streak patterns. Houston didn’t run the ball enough. David Johnson was their only bright spot.

I think teams that truly commit to running will kill our defense. Ravens and Titans will be tough. We are temporarily thin at CB, but our pass rush and coverage is generally good. If teams are forced to throw to catch up, we will feast.

thank god we don't play the titans...

[Lamardirts 2,114]

5 hours ago, Handswarmer said:

Queen lived up top expectations. I agree, give Gay a chance.

Didn't he start off with a sack then a strip in a span of a couple of plays?   He definitely looked good.