Kansas City Chiefs Stock Report: Week 15 2022

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It was not a pretty win or the most convincing win, but the Kansas City Chiefs found a way to come out on top in Houston on Sunday. This win led to the Chiefs clinching the AFC West for the seventh consecutive season. A few offensive playmakers were able to keep Kansas City’s heads above water. Meanwhile, the defense was highly suspect and looked completely lost in certain situations. It is definitely going to be a dogfight to win the AFC and get to the Super Bowl. But if the Chiefs are unable to clean up some noticeable miscues, then that road to winning in the playoffs only becomes tougher, due to self-inflicted wounds.

Each and every week, we will be listing players, position groups or coaches that improved or hurt their respective stock. Who saw their stock rise or fall in Week 15 for the Kansas City Chiefs? Let’s kick it off.

Stock Up

Jerick McKinnon

Jerick McKinnon followed up last week’s impressive performance, with a dominant showing in Houston. The Chiefs running back was lethal both on the ground and as a pass catcher. As a runner, McKinnon produced 52 yards on 10 carries. Most importantly, his 26-yard touchdown in overtime sealed the Kansas City victory. His instincts, confidence and spatial awareness as a pass catcher may be more impressive, however.

McKinnon caught all eight of his targets on Sunday. In the end, he totaled 70 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. Looking back at the offseason, it is crazy to think that McKinnon was unsigned for so long. Thankfully for the Chiefs, they were able to bring him back to Kansas City. He is simply tremendous depth to have at this point in the season.

Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes may not have had as many eye-popping, highlight-reel plays that he had the week prior. Yet, his ability to lead the Chiefs out of precarious positions was a reverse of last week. It also helped prevent Kansas City from dropping a game late in the regular season, one in which they looked completely sluggish. Mahomes was utterly efficient, urgent and executed throws to what the defense was giving him.

All told, he finished with 336 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, 33 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against the Texans. Some of his throws were able to extend separation windows for the Chiefs pass catchers. On the other hand, Mahomes ability to pick up crucial yards on the ground kept the Kansas City offense ahead of the sticks late. Finally, he had an amazing feat to wrap up the game, finishing the contest with 20-straight completions. If some of those throws happened to not connect, we may be talking about a Texans victory, rather than a Chiefs victory.

Travis Kelce

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Given the kind of game that it was, it feels like Travis Kelce flew under the radar a bit with his performance. He led the Chiefs in receiving yards on the day (105). Kelce also caught all 10 of his targets, to boot. His chemistry with Mahomes was on display in the second half. He found the soft spots in zones and in between defenders quickly. As a result, Kelce was able to generate swift completions, as well as necessary yards after the catch.

From a career moment perspective, Kelce climbed the tight end leaderboard yet again. He was able to pass Shannon Sharpe for fourth place in career receiving yards by a tight end. Sharpe tallied 10,060 career receiving yards. As for Kelce, he now has 10,150 career receiving yards after Sunday.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

Outside of a fumble lost, it was an exceptional day for JuJu Smith-Schuster. Like the aforementioned Kelce, he caught all 10 of his targets against the Texans. His 88 receiving yards places him at 850 receiving yards on the season. If he keeps up his pace, Smith-Schuster should surpass the 1,000-yard receiving plateau for just the second time in his six-year career. Week after week, you see his excellent mix of route running, separation and football IQ stand out in critical moments. Like we have continued to say when Smith-Schuster makes this list in the stock up category, you hope Kansas City can re-sign him for a few more years after this season.

Stock Down

Chiefs Secondary

It was not the worst game that the Chiefs secondary has had this season. But overall, Kansas City was putting on a concerning display in that area. Some completions were too easy for the Texans offense. That is especially true, when you are talking about the two touchdown passes that Houston had. Mainly, the Chiefs secondary was out of position on some throws and allowed too many releases into the wide-open areas of the middle of the field. Not to mention, Kansas City defensive backs had some costly penalties and appeared to be largely handcuffed when Houston tested them deep. When you talk about being leaky defensively, the Chiefs secondary just simply provided little to no resistance.

Steve Spagnuolo

You cannot place all of the defensive struggles on the shoulders of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Nevertheless, his tendencies and philosophies are being heavily tested right now. The current NFL is predicated on winning on pace and space. For the teams that do not operate that way, they can usually match or outmatch the physicality of the Chiefs defense by running the football.

Kansas City is used to predominantly playing press man coverage against the pass. As for the front seven, there is little comfort in this group consistently setting the edge. Of course, it does not help that the Chiefs are worse in points allowed and takeaways this season. Spagnuolo has failed to adjust looks on defense, while also failing to be more multiple and utilizing depth. Can he find a way to alter looks and test the eyes and mind of the opponent down the stretch?

Harrison Butker

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Harrison Butker is in a bad slump right now. Surely, it happens with almost any kicker. We just have not seen Butker struggle to this degree when with the Chiefs. He missed an extra point and another field goal on Sunday. The field goal would have won the game by three points at the end of regulation. Instead, the game stayed tied and entered overtime. Even when he is struggling here and there, you can generally count on Butker on longer-distance kicks and in situations where the game is on the line. Simply put, that has not been the case in the second half of the season.

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.