Kelce, Kansas City Offense Create Comeback Surge

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After a dominant showing the week before, the Kansas City Chiefs faced adversity on offense against the Las Vegas Raiders. Minimal yardage, missed throws and horrific blocking helped put the Chiefs in a 17-0 hole in the first half. Eventually, Kansas City would awaken and begin to put commanding drives together. It was far from a perfect night. But for the offense, the Chiefs were able to hit on explosive plays and extend drives via rare effort that can simply not be taught.

The offensive surge created a defining comeback for the Chiefs early in the season. As a result, that is where we will focus our attention in our FPC Chiefs Week 5 reaction article. Of course, we will also have our Kansas City stock report piece drop later today as well. Without further ado, let’s talk about the top moments from the Chiefs offense during their comeback victory.

Kelce Cannot Be Stopped

If you had Travis Kelce on your fantasy team, you are likely all smiles waking up this morning. Sure, his yardage was not insane against the Raiders. He did make a rare play work for one of his four touchdown receptions, running all the way across the field, however. His ability to find the zones and provide extra wiggle room at the top of his route keeps his options open after the catch. Furthermore, Kelce continues to get smoother and smoother as a route runner as his career grows.

In this game, his ability to shake off tight coverage in the red zone got the Chiefs rolling. Despite the early deficit, you could feel the tide of this contest shift. It may seem simple to cash in when in the low red zone. Yet, Kelce allowed Kansas City to exploit tight windows and outside leverage in order to get into the end zone time and time again. With a four-touchdown game, the Chiefs pass catcher will need only five receiving touchdowns in the final 12 games of the year to set a new single-season career high. His current career high in touchdown catches for a season is 11, which happened in 2020.

Mahomes Extends Plays To Get Chunk Gains

A key part of Patrick Mahomes‘ night was his ability to extend plays. Overall, the Chiefs made a few crucial third down conversions. One example was in the second half when Mahomes stepped up and found Mecole Hardman down the field to get Kansas City into Raider territory. Elsewhere, the Chiefs quarterback was able to find Marquez Valdes-Scantling while rolling to his right on one particular play. It was arguably the best performance that we have seen from MVS since joining the KC offense. That is especially true, in terms of production. However, Mahomes ability to place the ball right ahead of his extended arms helped move the chains when necessary.

Earlier in the game, you have to go back to a few rushing attempts by Mahomes. He was able to get the Chiefs down towards the red zone. His quick realization of needing to take off and run has not always been there throughout Mahomes career. Even though it was not as steady of a night for the Kansas City offense, Mahomes continued to see the whole field and make urgent decisions. His success when extending plays outside of the pocket is second to none in the NFL. He is also doing a tremendous job of spreading the ball around efficiently, to boot.

Offensive Line Rebounds Late Following Disappointing Start

It was a rough start for the Chiefs offensive line, to say the least. Offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie could not handle the speed of Chandler Jones nor the power of Maxx Crosby. It was not just that the Raiders duo was getting through and getting home. In fact, the rate and pace at which each was getting to Mahomes early was astonishing. On the other hand, the interior offensive line failed to gain leverage early on in the contest. Nick Allegretti was unable to hold a firm base at right guard as he filled in for the injured Trey Smith.

Late in the game, the Chiefs blocking unit began to turn a corner. The movement and displacement that they created wore down that aforementioned defensive end pairing for Vegas. You also have to appreciate the effort of Brown Jr. and Joe Thuney to reach the second level defenders and open up running lanes. Specifically when Jerick McKinnon toted the rock in the second half, those two were leading the charge. A lot rides on this group each and every week. In order for the Chiefs offense to reach their potential, faster starts will be vital for Kansas City’s offensive line going forward.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.