Patrick Mahomes is human, after all. And that might make the unbeaten Chiefs’ defensively fueled dismantling of Jacksonville on Sunday their most impressive victory so far this season.
Mahomes threw his first two picks of 2018, but the Chiefs’ defense outplayed its more heralded counterparts in leading K.C. to a 30-14 romp over the Jaguars to improve to 5-0.
“The sky’s the limit if we play all phases of the game like that,” Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce said after the game. “It’s a special thing when you get a whole group of guys that come together for one goal. It’s special and sure as hell fun.”
Blake Bortles threw for 430 yards for Jacksonville, but he also was picked off four times and lost a fumble, including a 20-yard pick-six by 310-pound Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones. Bortles guided the Jags to the AFC Championship game last season, but his 71 interceptions and 13 pick-sixes are the most in the NFL since his debut in 2014.
Bortles also was intercepted in the end zone by K.C.’s Steven Nelson in the second quarter after his pass attempt had deflected off the helmet of one of his offensive linemen, prompting the Chiefs’ secondary to pull off the best celebration of the day with a five-man tip drill and spike of the ball by Nelson.
Jones later was tossed from the game for throwing a punch at an opposing player, one of two ejections for the Chiefs. Linebacker Dee Ford also was booted in the fourth quarter for taunting Bortles on the Kansas City sideline after a play, his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game.
Jones’ ejection via video review marked the first time NFL senior vice president of officiating Al Riveron has kicked out a player from the league’s New York office, a new rule the league implemented this year to review penalties for “non-football acts.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid acknowledged afterward his players need to be “smarter” when it comes to ejections, before adding that “nobody’s going to push us around, anywhere.”
Mahomes, who began the day with 14 touchdown passes and zero interceptions through four games, was picked off twice. But the 2017 first-round pick still threw for 313 yards and rushed for a 4-yard score in the first quarter.
“[The defense] really stepped up,” Mahomes said. “They played really well. It was a lot of confidence-building that the defense can step up like that and win games. … It shows that we can win with every phase.”
The Chiefs will put their perfect record on the line next Sunday night on the road against New England (3-2).
Le’Veon who?
James Conner put up impressive numbers in the continued absence of holdout running back Le’Veon Bell, rushing for 110 yards on 21 carries and scoring two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 41-17 rout of Atlanta. Conner, who’d totaled just 19 rushing yards in last week’s loss to Baltimore, also totaled four receptions for 75 yards.
Bell still hasn’t signed his franchise tender, but NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Bell wants to stay with the Steelers (2-2-1), who have been actively shopping their Pro Bowl running back.
In the meantime, Conner continues to emerge as a nice storyline in the Steel City; he overcame a bout with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma while at the University of Pittsburgh in 2015.
“We got the win, that’s the most important thing,” Conner told NFL Network after Sunday’s game. “The month of October [Breast Cancer Awareness Month] is just special. I realize ‘survivor’ always will be a part of my name. I got the purple laces on, I got a purple mouthpiece, so it’s a part of me. But I’m trying to make my name on the field, and that’s what I’m trying to be known for.”
Antonio Brown also posted his first 100-yard receiving day of the season (101) and hauled in two touchdown passes from Ben Roethlisberger, who also connected in the end zone with JuJu Smith-Schuster for Big Ben’s third 3-TD performance in the past four weeks.
The Eagles have landed
So much for that Super Bowl magic.
The defending-champion Eagles have slipped below the .500 mark through five games, falling to 2-3 with a 23-21 home loss to the Vikings in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.
Carson Wentz, who was injured while backup quarterback Nick Foles led Philadelphia to its long-awaited first Super Bowl title in February, won his first start back from a torn ACL in Week 3 against Indianapolis. But the Eagles haven’t scored more than 23 points in any of their five games and they’ve dropped two straight — to Tennessee in overtime and the Vikings — ahead of Thursday night’s matchup against the reeling Giants.
On Sunday, former Giants defensive tackle Linval Joseph recovered a strip-sack of Wentz in the second quarter and rumbled for a 64-yard touchdown.
“These little mistakes that sometimes can go overlooked are just killing us,” Wentz said. “We’re playing like we’re a young, rookie team. And we’re not. So we’ve got to really be hard on ourselves and learn from these mistakes, and turn it around fast.”
Getting their kicks
It was a mixed bag for kickers across the NFL, with Graham Gano blasting a 63-yarder as time expired to lift Carolina over the Giants, and Cleveland’s Greg Joseph (overtime) and Buffalo’s Steven Hauschka also nailing game-winning kicks.
On the flip side was Green Bay veteran Mason Crosby, who misfired on four of five field-goal attempts and an extra point in the Pack’s 31-23 loss in Detroit.
“Missed some kicks, yeah. I don’t get this much attention unless it’s really bad, or extremely good. So this one unfortunately was really bad,” Crosby said. “This one hurts a bunch, left a lot of points out on the field for this team. Disappointed in my performance. Looking back, thinking back to childhood, high school, this was definitely one of the worst. I’m bummed about that.”
Rams kicker Cairo Santos also could have been the goat for his team when he missed what would have been a game-tying PAT early in the fourth quarter, but Jared Goff and Los Angeles also moved to 5-0 after Santos connected on a 39-yard field goal with 6:09 remaining for a 33-31 victory over Seattle.
Bad Beats
The Dolphins (3-2) at least looked headed for a cover, 6-point underdogs with the ball, down 20-17 with less than three minutes remaining to Cincinnati.
But then Ryan Tannehill happened.
The Miami quarterback was strip-sacked by Carlos Dunlap at his 18-yard line and Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard scooped up the ball and rumbled in for the touchdown en route to a 10-point win for the 4-1 Bengals.
Post Patterns
It wouldn’t be the 2018 NFL season without more confusion over roughing-the-passer penalties. While waiting for the Texans’ home game Sunday night against Dallas, All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt chimed in on Twitter when his brother — T.J. Watt of the Steelers — questionably was flagged for roughing against Atlanta QB Matt Ryan. “Would love to hear the explanation on how this was ‘roughing the passer,’ ” Watt tweeted about his brother, who registered three sacks in the Steelers’ win. … Minnesota WR Adam Thielen (seven catches, 116 yards) became the first player since Houston’s Charley Hennigan (seven games) in 1961 to start the season with five straight games of at least 100 receiving yards. Thielen also hauled in an onsides kick attempt with 1:07 remaining to seal the Vikings’ 23-21 win over the Eagles. … Todd Gurley totaled 113 yards from scrimmage and scored three touchdowns for the unbeaten Rams. … C.J. Beathard threw for 349 yards and two touchdowns in Arizona’s 28-18 win over San Francisco, the first victory for first-year Cardinals coach Steven Wilks. … Jon Gruden’s Raiders fell to 1-4 with a 26-10 loss to the Chargers. Philip Rivers threw for 339 yards and two TDs for L.A.
Three Stars
1. Baker Mayfield
The No.1-overall pick threw for a season-high 342 yards and led the Browns down the field late in overtime for the game-winning field goal in a 12-9 edging of Tennessee to improve to 2-2-1 on the season.
2. Joe Haden
The cornerback spearheaded Pittsburgh’s blanketing of Falcons star wideout Juilo Jones. The league’s receiving yardage leader through Week 4 was held without a catch in the first three quarters of the Steelers’ 41-17 win. (Jones did finish with five garbage-time catches for 62 yards).
3. Aaron Rodgers
The quarterback was 32-for-52 for 442 yards, with three touchdowns and zero interceptions, but it wasn’t enough as the Packers fell short, 31-23, against the Lions in Motown.
Quote of the Day
“I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to look at the kick or not, so I turned around at the last second and saw it was pretty low. It wasn’t a pretty kick, but it went in. It also wasn’t a pretty win, but it counts.”
— Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, after rookie Greg Joseph’s 37-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in overtime lifted Cleveland over the Titans.
Fantasy Insanity
- Most fantasy owners had benched Kenyan Drake, if they hadn’t dropped him. Then he posted a 24.5-point fantasy day Sunday — 6-46 rushing, 7-69 receiving with a TD. Hopefully this signals a turning of the tide in both usage and efficiency. You don’t have to rush him back into your lineup, but you can at least have reasonable faith when using him as a bye-week replacement.
- With Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison out, rookie Packers receiver Marquez Valdez-Scantling delivered admirably — 7-for-68 and a TD. Don’t go chasing him in season-long leagues, however, because Cobb and Allison could be back as soon as next week.
- Hello Robby Anderson. Where have you been? Having scored less than 10 points over the past three weeks combined, he erupted for 123 yards and two scores on three grabs (27.3 points). Three receptions tied a season high. It’s tough to steadily deliver strong fantasy outings on just three catches. Treat as a low-confidence bye-week filler, until he shows some consistency.
— Drew Loftis
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