The Kansas City Chiefs were nearly three-touchdown favorites coming into this game against the New York Jets. That point spread speaks to the massive gap in talent between these two teams, and that gap is exactly what we saw on the field as the Chiefs rolled to a 35-9 victory that was never truly in doubt.
The good news for the Jets is that they’re one step closer to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft — a selection where they hope to find their quarterback of the future who can go toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes in the years to come.
Editor's note: All of PFF's grades and advanced stats from this game will be finalized and made available to ELITE subscribers within 24 hours of the final whistle.
STORY OF THE GAME
For the second straight week, we had Chad Henne action late for the Chiefs, and that means things went pretty well for Mahomes and the first-team unit on offense. Mahomes averaged nearly 10 yards per pass attempt with a 144.4 passer rating before being pulled in the fourth quarter, and Kansas City spread the wealth through the air.
Each of Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Mecole Hardman and Demarcus Robinson recorded 50 or more receiving yards, with Hill getting behind the Jets’ defense twice for big touchdown receptions. Even with Sammy Watkins inactive, the Chiefs have a bevy of players to attack defenses through the air.
The Jets failed to get much pressure on Mahomes in this game, and he picked their defense apart from a clean pocket. His 122.6 passer rating from a clean pocket since 2018 coming into this week led all quarterbacks. A defense worries about his ability to improvise and make those special plays outside of the pocket, but a failure to affect him inside the pocket with pressure doesn’t give yourself much of a chance. Mahomes and the Chiefs are simply too good if you let them operate within structure, and that’s what we saw here.
For the Jets, it was a second straight week where they came out and weren’t able to get anything going on offense in the second half. After being able to move the ball a little bit in the first half, New York averaged just 2.5 yards per play across the final two quarters. It’s a tough brand of football to watch right now for the Jets.
ROOKIE WATCH
With all of the injuries to Jets’ pass-catchers, all eyes were on second-round rookie Denzel Mims in just his second game of NFL action. He had a couple of big catches early on but was held without a reception over the game’s final three quarters. Despite that, Mims still led all Jets receivers in routes run (35) and receiving yards (42) in what was an underwhelming performance from their passing offense.
Mekhi Becton wasn’t the usual force that he is in the run game, but he did turn in an admirable performance in pass protection. On initial count, Becton allowed just two pressures on 35 pass-blocking snaps.
At running back, we saw two rookies serve in backfield rotations. Clyde Edwards-Helaire split the work with the newly signed Le’Veon Bell in a revenge game, but he drew nearly twice as many snaps as the former Jet. Edwards-Helaire outgained Bell, 21 to 7, on the ground but notched just 10 receiving yards on three receptions compared to Bell’s 31 on as many catches. On the other side, La’Mical Perine edged out Frank Gore in the snap battle, 27 to 22, but neither back was very effective.
On defense, safety Ashtyn Davis and edge defender Bryce Huff both played big roles on New York’s defense. Davis’ most notable moment in the start for Bradley McDougald came when he got beat on an early Tyreek Hill touchdown. Huff made little impact on his 25 pass-rushing snaps. It was a forgettable afternoon for both players.
Tershawn Wharton and Michael Danna both served in the defensive line rotation for Kansas City. Wharton came away from the game with a sack and made some plays against the run, as well. He’s been impressive early on as an undrafted free agent out of Missouri S&T.
Willie Gay Jr. saw his playing time cut all the way down to fewer than 10 defensive snaps after earning a very respectable 71.4 PFF grade in a season-high 39 defensive snaps last week against the Denver Broncos.
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