Chiefs Reassess At Bye Based On Their Undefeated Record

The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated, and they don’t have a lot of company in that regard. The only NFL other team with an unblemished record is the Minnesota Vikings over in the NFC, and the Vikings are considered far more suspect.

Mike Sando of The Athletic took a look at what’s sustainable and what’s not for the Chiefs in his weekly “Pick Six” rundown, and he also came up with an X-factor for the Chiefs, so let’s see what he came up with to assess his choices. 

Sustainable 

That would be the running game. It’s a solid choice but also an obvious one, as new running back Kenneth Walker III has been a wagon for the Chiefs so far. As Sando noted, Walker is on pace to set single-season NFL records for rushing yards (2,282) and scrimmage yards (2,640), but the Chiefs are also looking at dialing back his workload a little to keep him healthy and fresh. 

What Walker has also done is given the Chiefs a new way to win, which is also way his success is sustainable. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is back and playing well, which means the Chiefs are now giving opponents a “pick your poison” choice on defense. 

Moreover, the Chiefs are also developing rookie running back Emmett Johnson, which should make the running game even more formidable going foward. 

Not Sustainable

The choice here was more interesting, as Sando selected Mahomes’ early production in the long passing game. His reasoning was the injury to receiver Tyquan Thornton in Week 4, which has the receiever out for the long haul. 

Mahomes has completed 7 of 14 passes for 285 yards on attempts traveling at least 20 yards past the line of scrimmage, per Sando, which is nowhere near as strong as what the Chiefs quarterback was doing early in his career. 

What Sando is leaving out of the equation is receiver Xavier Worthy, who continues to be something of a mystery. He should be making the kinds of plays Thornton was making before he got hurt, but Worthy has been largely missing in action so far. 

X-Factor

Sando chose the pass rush, which is another interesting selection. The Chiefs haven’t been getting sacks, and they’re ranked 32nd in the league in their sack rate. But that doesn’t align at all with Kansas City’s pressure rate, which ranks 11th, so a number somewhere in the middle makes more sense, with plenty of room for improvement.