Two weeks into the 2024-25 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs have taken both games to the wire. Despite the best efforts of their opponents, the two-time Super Bowl champions managed to defeat the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.
Sunday’s win over Cincinnati, another home game, was a thriller. Neither team put on a standout performance, but Kansas City was able to muster enough power to get some late stops on defense and get within field goal range on offense. Thanks to Harrison Butker’s long-range shot as time expired, the Chiefs moved to 2-0 and head into Week 3 with plenty of momentum.
With that in mind, we want to highlight some of the Chiefs’ biggest winners and losers in the second week of the regular season.
For the second week in a row, wide receiver Rashee Rice was easily the Chiefs’ most impressive pass receiver on offense. This time, the second-year receiver caught five of six attempts for 75 yards. He also scored his first touchdown of the season after beating Cam Taylor-Britt down the field, showing a new facet of his game. If Rice can pose a vertical threat with some regularity, it completely changes his already promising future as a player. Week 2 was a nice bright spot from Rice.
Seeing Patrick Mahomes’ name in this section is about as rare as a solar eclipse. The NFL’s best quarterback played anything but well against Cincinnati, which seems to be a common pattern. It’s hard to say what’s freaking Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid out when the Bengals take the field, but it’s a trend now. Mahomes threw for just 151 yards, which was his lowest total in an entire game. alwaysand posted an ugly -0.19 EPA/score on Sunday, caused by two turnovers. He will surely bounce back. He will have to after such an uncharacteristic performance.
A game-winning field goal has to be as high-pressure a moment as it gets in professional sports. Somehow Harrison Butker makes those plays look routine. It’s unusual for almost everyone in the stadium or watching from home to count a 51-yard kick as a score, but that seemed to be the case when the veteran kicker stepped up on Sunday afternoon. Kicking problems plague teams across the league several times each season, though Kansas City doesn’t really have to experience it. When Butker is healthy and available, there may be no one better in the sport.
Rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia came up short when he faced Trey Hendrickson this weekend. People knew he had a long day ahead of him, but seeing him struggle like that was still a bit of a shock. The second-round pick took multiple pressures and sacks and also committed costly holding penalties in Week 2. After benching Suamataia late in the fourth quarter, Reid doesn’t see him as his surefire starter this Sunday. While this writer still leans toward him being back on the roster, it’s never a good thing to be questioned.
With each passing play, it becomes more and more convincing that Trent McDuffie is one of the NFL’s top five cornerbacks. The former first-round pick picked up where he left off on Sunday, facing Ja’Marr Chase on 17 routes and holding him to one pass reception for four yards. Joe Burrow didn’t challenge McDuffie much, and for good reason. Regardless of his assignment or lineup, the Washington product simply delivers. The Chiefs miss L’Jarius Sneed, sure, but McDuffie’s presence helps mitigate that loss more than most other teams would benefit from.
First off, it’s early in the season and from a quality standpoint, Travis Kelce doesn’t look like a weaker player. He’s still capable of being effective and creating space. Still, four catches for 39 yards in two games is a significant drop from what many expect from the future Hall of Famer. He was targeted three times on Sunday but caught just one pass for five yards. Kelce deserves the benefit of the doubt – and probably a few more weeks to get going – but as he approaches his 35th birthday, concerns about his lack of productivity are growing. A big game against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3 could nip that in the bud.
