Kansas City Chiefs: 3 Standouts from win over Bills in Week 6
The Kansas City Chiefs standouts from their quietly dominant win over the Bills.
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs had to be shell-shocked after last week when they fell to a Raiders team that they’d dominated wholly in recent memory. Their first loss of the season made a Monday matchup — moved due to COVID-19 issues throughout the league in previous weeks — with the one-loss Buffalo Bills pivotal for the defending Super Bowl champs.
Andy Reid’s club responded as you’d expect champions to do. Mahomes didn’t need to be a world-beater but he was near flawless in doing so while the Chiefs defense harassed Josh Allen into his worst game of the year. The result was a 26-17 victory for Kansas City in Week 6, a final score that feels less indicative of how thoroughly the Chiefs controlled the game.
The Chiefs have to feel good about their performance on Monday as they look ahead to another divisional game in Week 7. But before we get there, let’s dive into the three biggest standouts for Kansas City in the win over the Bills.
3. Travis Kelce, TE
Sure, tight end Travis Kelce put the ball on the ground once with a fumble recovered by the Bills. That was about the only negative thing to say about his performance in the emphatic win for the Chiefs, though.
Kelce finished the night with five catches on seven targets for 65 yards and two touchdowns. More than that, his efforts in hauling in the ball were anything but simple. He made a number of highly impressive grabs throughout the game, showing the trust Patrick Mahomes has in his All-Pro caliber tight end.
Because he does it so often, we might sometimes forget just how good Kelce is. But performances like the one on Monday are evidence that he’s still clearly one of the elite tight ends in this league, especially in the passing game.
2. Chris Jones, DT
Admittedly, the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t register any sacks on Monday evening as Josh Allen was kept off the turf and made some plays with his legs. Having said that, the quarterback had arguably his worst game of the 2020 season in Week 6 as he completed just 14-of-27 passes for only 122 yards with two scores but also an interception. And the presence of defensive tackle Chris Jones was a big reason why.
Jones led the Chiefs defensive line, as he often does, in consistently getting Allen out of the pocket and forcing quick and/or bad decisions. It’s become more obvious in the wave of analytics that simply generating pressure is almost as valuable as getting a sack and Jones’ performance against Buffalo is a testament to that with how he and his cohorts dictated Allen’s play.
1. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB
Clyde Edwards-Helaire looked the part of a first-round running back in Week 1 but had been pedestrian over the last four games. That changed on Monday evening as the rookie was absolutely dominant as he shouldered the load in an otherwise relatively ho-hum offensive performance from the Chiefs.
Though he failed to get into the end zone, CEH finished with 161 rushing yards on 26 carries along with four receptions for eight yards. Even more impressive, PFF credited the back with 94 rushing yards after first contact. He was taken at the end of the first round in the 2020 NFL Draft to add a new element to the Kansas City offense and he showcased that in the big victory in Week 6.