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In the days leading to this game, the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 2 clash against the Los Angeles Chargers received a lot of attention. It certainly lived up to the hype, as the Chiefs' victory against the Chargers was an intriguing slugfest for “Thursday Night Football.”
The two teams traded body punches all night before the Chiefs defense delivered the killing blow. Everyone expected a close game between two extremely competitive AFC West rivals, and Kansas City delivered with a 27-24 victory. This is the sort of performance that the Chiefs will be able to build on and ride throughout the 2022 NFL season.
Here are our three takeaways after the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 2 win vs. the Chargers.
Goodnight, Chiefs Kingdom 😌 pic.twitter.com/Z5jxxNvXPl
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 16, 2022
3. Those wonderful Watsons
After Mecole Hardman left the game temporarily in the third quarter with an apparent left ankle or foot injury, the Chiefs needed someone else to step up and assist quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That guy was wide receiver Justin Watson, who caught a crazy ball from Mahomes deep down the field for a 41-yard score.
In the fourth quarter, Jaylen Watson intercepted a Justin Herbert pass and returned it for a score. That's 14 points scored by players who weren't expected to play significant roles at the start of the season. In a game that had strange vibrations all night, the Chiefs had to be delighted with whatever help they could get and from whomever. Clearly, these wonderful Watsons delivered in spades.
2. Clap, clap, Clyde Edwards-Helaire
So far this 2022 NFL season, Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been on a pretty fast start. He not only thrived in the passing game again this week, but he also ran the biggest run of his NFL career on Thursday. In Week 2, he had four catches on four targets for 44 yards. That included a 21-yard touchdown. He also ran the ball eight times for 74 yards, including a 52-yard gallop in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Everyone anticipated Edwards-Helaire to do this after the previous two seasons. Now that he's healthy, he'll be able to completely exhibit his abilities in both the passing and running games. At this rate, he could soon be among the top 10 RBs in the league.
1. Patrick Mahomes is too good
Everything appeared to be simple for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 against the Cardinals. Things didn't go as well this week against a feared Chargers defense. Nonetheless, Mahomes performed admirably.
Despite suffering an injury on the game's first drive, Mahomes still managed to pass for 360 yards and five touchdowns en route to a massive win.
He missed no snaps due to the injury and completed 30 of his 39 pass attempts for a 144.2 passer rating on the afternoon. It was one of the greatest performances of the Chiefs' superstar quarterback's now-long streak of Week 1 dominance. Take note that he did it all while striking a mix between preferring old dependable Travis Kelce and hitting his new pass-catchers in stride.
Mahomes targeted ten different receivers with his 39 attempts. His touchdown throws were caught by four different Chiefs, with the target share divided evenly between running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. It was one of Mahomes' better performances of his career. If this is what Chiefs fans can expect from their new-look offense, then 2022 is going to be a very good year.
In addition, the back-and-forth between Herbert and Mahomes was quite exciting. These are two of the finest quarterbacks in the NFL, each at the peak of their game. Even after Herbert was injured and hobbling, he came out shooting and competing to the very finish.
Every time the two come on the field together in the future, there will be some heavyweight battles. Games like this will only add fuel to the fire, and we're all excited to see it unfold.
