7 stats to know for Chiefs in Week 2 | KCSN Daily 9.12
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The Chiefs kicked off the 2022 NFL season with a 44-21 rout of the Arizona Cardinals on the road. After an offseason of questions and doubts surrounding the team, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the crew made a statement with their Week 1 win.
“All offseason everyone has asked us questions of what this team would look like and we’ve always believed that we were going to go out there and put on a show and I thought guys did that,” Mahomes said following the game. “So to go out there and win against a really good football team and to win decisively, it’s a good start.”
Mahomes didn’t have the luxury of basking in his performance for too long with a short week to prepare for the Los Angeles Chargers. In fact, he reiterated Andy Reid’s message on enjoying the win for the plane ride after the game.
We’ll be moving on from the win just as quickly as the team will. Below we’ll be looking at some key stats to know for the Chiefs in Week 2 as they face the Chargers on Thursday night.
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KCSN Update:
Listen to BJ Kissel’s chat with ESPN's Matt Miller about the top performers in the Kansas City Chiefs’ big win over the Arizona Cardinals.
7 stats to know for Chiefs in Week 2:
1. Series history: The Chiefs lead the all-time series with the Chargers, which is currently 65-58-1. Kansas City is 2-2 against Los Angeles since Justin Herbert became the team’s starting QB in 2020. The Chiefs are 5-3 against the Chargers during Patrick Mahomes’ tenure as starting QB.
2. Winning record on TNF: The Chiefs have played 10 games on “Thursday Night Football” since Andy Reid’s arrival in 2013 (two in 2017). The Chiefs are 6-4 during that span, with their most recent win coming in overtime against the Chargers on the road in 2021.
3. September success: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes has a 12-2 record in the month of September in his NFL career. During that span, he’s completed 358-of-520 passes for over 4,500 passing yards, 46 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
4. Spreading the ball around: When Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes said the team was going to spread the ball around this year, he wasn’t kidding. In Week 1, Mahomes targeted 10 different receivers. Six of those receivers were targeted three or more times and all six caught at least three passes on the night.
5. Red zone success could be key: The Chargers gave up two red zone touchdowns to the Raiders in Week 1. The Chiefs were a perfect 6-of-6 in the red zone on Sunday against the Cardinals.
6. Tackling the weak link for Los Angeles: Tackling is never particularly great in the NFL for any team during the early season, but it was particularly bad for the Chargers in Week 1. In a game that came down to the wire, L.A. ranked 26th in the NFL in tackle grade according to Pro Football Focus. That could lead to some big yards after the catch for Kansas City in Week 2.
7. What winning in Week 2 would mean: If the Chiefs win in Week 2, it’ll mark their fifth 2-0 start in the past six seasons. If the Chargers win in Week 2, it’ll be the first time they’ve gone 2-0 to start a season since 2012.
10 Things:
Listen to KCSN’s BJ Kissel break down 10 positive things to take away from the Kansas City Chiefs’ big win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday night.
Monday injury report:
The Chiefs and Chargers both didn’t practice on Monday, but with the short week ahead of Thursday night, they released an estimated injury report to show the practice participation if they would have practiced.
Chiefs:
DNP: K Harrison Butker (Ankle) and CB Trent McDuffie (Hamstring),
LP: WR Justin Watson (Chest), WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (Shoulder), RG Trey Smith (Ankle) and LT Orlando Brown Jr. (Knee).
FP: QB Patrick Mahomes (Left Wrist) and S Justin Reid (Hand).
Chargers:
DNP: CB J.C. Jackson (Ankle), WR Keenan Allen (Hamstring) and TE Donald Parham (Hamstring).
LP: None.
FP: LT Rashawn Slater (Back) and LB Drue Tranquil (Back).
Key:
DNP (Did Not Participate), LP (Limited Participant), FP (Full Participant), NIR (Not Injury Related).
Quotable:
“Yeah, again, I zipped through the film on the plane to be quite honest with everybody and then moved on to the Chargers – and I was looking at things more as a unit and a group and how we function. But Bryan Cook stuck out. A couple of things that he did, made some tackles. Certainly Jaylen going in and Josh (Williams) having to go in a little bit. I thought they all did a nice job. George (Karlaftis) was solid. He came right up to me after and gave me two or three things that he did wrong, which is George. He’s always going to try to get better, but I thought he helped us a little bit. Leo (Chenal) got in there and got a couple of snaps in our base defense and then some at the end when we got ahead. I think more than anything it was just good that they got first-game jitters out of their system. They got a couple of reps under their belt and hopefully that’ll help us in a quick turnaround to playing on Thursday.” - Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo on rookie performances
We missed a lot of opportunities. I think we missed three sacks, but we also got three sacks. Most of the defense was, from that, he’s (Murray) a shifty guy. Hard to bring down. He ducked out on me on one of them. Threw the ball over (George Karlaftis) on the other one. Outran Frank Clark. No pun intended, but we got to him. We affected him in multiple ways. Carlos Dunlap got his (97th career sack.) That’s good for him, now it’s about the Chargers.” - Chiefs DT Chris Jones on the pass rush
Quick hits:
From the Chiefs: 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Arrowhead Stadium and the franchise is teasing something for the team’s “Thursday Night Football” matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers.
From NFL Research: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is producing games with five or more touchdown passes at an astonishing rate.
Important dates ahead:
Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7:15 p.m. CT - Week 2: Chiefs vs. Chargers - Arrowhead Stadium - Kansas City, Missouri
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