Kansas City Chiefs: Studs and duds from Week 1 vs. Texans

The defending champion Kansas City Chiefs kicked off 2020 with a playoff rematch.

It’s been a different kind of offseason for the NFL. And yet, the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs literally picked up where they left off last postseason when they trailed in every playoff game and went on to win a league championship for the first time since 1969.

Yes, it wasn’t a rally from a 24-0 second-quarter lead this time around. But Andy Reid’s team trailed the Houston Texans 7-0 before his team got on the scoreboard. And quarterback Patrick Mahomes (the MVP of Super Bowl LIV) and company would score the next 31 points and after 60 minutes of play, the champs came away with a 34-20 triumph.

Including their impressive postseason run in 2019, the Chiefs have now won 10 consecutive games since opening last season 6-4.

The victory by Kansas City also raised the record of defending Super Bowl champions playing in their first game the following season to 37-16-1. Reid’s team rolled up 369 total yards and controlled the football for 34:47 on Thursday evening. On the other side of the ball, coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s unit sacked Texans’ quarterback Deshaun Watson four times and picked off one of his passes.

There were plenty of standouts during the team’s solid victory and very few negatives. And that’s reflected here with more than the usual amount of studs and just one thing (and it almost feels like nit-picking) that the Chiefs need to get better at.