Chiefs beat Saints. Three takeaways.
- Lewis Green
- Oct 8, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2024
On Monday Night Football in Week 5, the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 5-0 on the season, cruising to a rare comfortable 26-13 win over the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead.
Takeaway One: The old guard can still play
It’s been an injury-riddled start to the 2024 season for Kansas City, with the Chiefs losing key pieces—star running back Isaiah Pacheco, emerging Pro Bowl candidate Rashee Rice, and veteran receiver Hollywood Brown—to potentially season-ending injuries within the first four weeks. The need for players to step up has never been greater.
Enter Kareem Hunt, once the golden boy of the Chiefs, whose name was synonymous with the explosive beginning of the Mahomes era in 2018. Just weeks ago, Hunt was sitting on his couch, a free agent after being cut by the Browns. But he’s grabbed this second chance to right the wrongs of his exit from Kansas City. Stepping up when the team needed him most, Hunt powered through for 27 carries, 102 yards, and a touchdown. Days after being questionable with an injury, Hunt’s gritty performance showed he can still be a key asset in Kansas City's pursuit of the elusive three-peat. Nobody on this roster should be hungrier to hoist the Lombardi than Kareem Hunt.
Then there’s JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs' big free-agent signing in 2022, who was crucial to their second Super Bowl run. JuJu reset his value with 933 receiving yards that season, earning himself a 3-year, $25 million deal with the Patriots in 2023. But his time in New England was short-lived, cut after just one season for underperforming. Fortunately, the Chiefs saw an opportunity and brought him back in 2024 as a depth piece for their wide receiver corps.
With injuries piling up and rookie Xavier Worthy going through Andy Reid’s classic slow-cooker development process, JuJu found himself back in a familiar role—one not unlike his 2022 stint. Filling in for Rashee Rice’s power slot role, JuJu caught 7 passes for 130 yards, including a 50-yard bomb. He proved that, when called upon, he can still get the job done. If he can keep this up, he might just rediscover his old form in Kansas City, right when the Chiefs need him the most.
Takeaway Two: Kelce’s wheels still a ‘churning
Travis Kelce’s performance has been a hot topic over the first month of the season. After posting seven straight 1,000-yard campaigns, that streak ended last year with Kelce finishing just 16 yards short, at 984. Sure, he could’ve reached the milestone had he played in the final game, but he opted to rest up for the playoffs—and let’s be honest, he balled out in the postseason. Still, that decision left many wondering if we’d seen the last of Kelce at his peak.
Despite the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl last year, Kelce was making headlines for things other than football. From his wildly successful "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason to, oh, you know, dating the world’s biggest pop star—Taylor Swift—Kelce’s off-the-field life had people speculating. At 35 years old, was Travis Kelce more focused on the spotlight than the gridiron?
A slow start to the 2024 season only fueled that narrative. With just 69 yards through the first three games (a yard shy of his single-game career average), whispers began that maybe—just maybe—Zeus was starting to lose a step.
But then, the last two games happened. Against Atlanta and New Orleans, we got vintage Kelce. In those contests, he racked up a combined 16 receptions for 159 yards, with a long of 38. Funny how his resurgence coincided with Mahomes looking more settled in the pocket, giving Kelce time to work his magic and find open space.
Let’s not kid ourselves—this is the Travis Kelce we should expect going forward. With Hollywood Brown, Rashee Rice, and Isaiah Pacheco out of action, Kelce will need to step up even more. And if history has taught us anything, when Kelce is called upon, he delivers. Expect Zeus to continue striking as the season moves on.
Takeaway Three: Mahomes improving… MVP?
Monday night marked the first 300-yard passing game of the season for Patrick Mahomes. While he didn’t throw a touchdown pass and had an unfortunate interception at the goal line—a play that easily could’ve been a score to JuJu Smith-Schuster—Mahomes still looked much more like the QB we know and love.
Now, let’s be honest—it feels downright spoiled to criticize a guy who’s leading a 5-0 team, gunning for a third straight Super Bowl, and would be the unanimous number one pick in any fantasy draft. But we’ve grown so used to Mahomes being otherworldly, consistently leading every major passing category and being in the MVP conversation down to the wire, that this slower start feels a little concerning. But if you’ve been paying attention, we’ve seen this movie before.
Remember 2021? After the Super Bowl loss to Tampa, teams started dropping two high safeties on nearly every snap, and Mahomes and the Chiefs offense took a minute to adjust. Or take last season, where the Chiefs leaned heavily on their stellar defence to grind out win’s week after week. My point is, even when Mahomes doesn’t look like Superman, the Chiefs’ floor has still been the AFC Championship game. Let that sink in for a moment. In Mahomes' six seasons as a starter, Kansas City has reached the Super Bowl half the time. That's a coin-flip’s chance of winning it all—and winning in the NFL is ridiculously hard.
That said, quarterback play around the league is down this year. Supposedly great teams are struggling (Cincinnati at 1-4, Bills and Ravens at 3-2), and there’s no runaway favourite for the MVP right now. Sam Darnold, of all people, might be the early frontrunner leading the undefeated Vikings, but we all know that story could fizzle out quickly. Statistically, Joe Burrow looks like the favourite, with 12 touchdowns and 1,370 yards to just two picks. But with the Bengals sitting at 1-4, there’s a decent chance they miss the playoffs entirely. If Burrow somehow rallies and drags Cincinnati back into the postseason, he’d deserve MVP consideration, no doubt.
HOWEVER… despite Mahomes’ relatively slow start, the Chiefs are undefeated and have already cleared some tough matchups on their schedule. It’s not crazy to think the Chiefs could finish the season with only two, three, or maybe even four losses. Dare I say, could they run the table and go undefeated? If Mahomes turns it around, there’s no reason he couldn’t reclaim his MVP form. In fact, I’d argue that with this elite defence and Mahomes finding his groove, the Chiefs are poised to lock up the AFC’s coveted one-seed. And if that happens, why shouldn’t Patrick Mahomes win his third MVP? I wouldn’t bet against him—after all, Mahomes always finds a way to remind us why he’s the best in the business.
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