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The Chiefs are still red hot, even if it took them a while to get going on Monday. The Commanders, meanwhile, continue to struggle.
Kansas City (5-3) scored three straight touchdowns to open the second half en route to its 28-7 victory over Washington (3-5) on Monday Night Football. It marked the Chiefs’ fifth win in their last six games, as they continue rounding into what is the latest Super Bowl contender of their dynasty. The Commanders have now lost three straight and four of their last five.
Here are my takeaways:
1. Travis Kelce puts together his best performance of the season
Sure, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has lost a step. He’s not the truly dominant force he once was. But he still looks plenty effective at 36, and he proved to be a difficult cover for the Commanders defense on Monday night.
The perennial Pro Bowl tight end caught six catches for a season-high 99 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s victory. Kelce had a pass bounce off his hands for an interception by Washington’s Bobby Wagner early in the second quarter but was otherwise terrific. He had two receptions of 30-plus yards (one in the second quarter and another in the third), both of which set up Kareem Hunt touchdowns.
Kelce became the fifth tight end in NFL history to record 80-plus receiving touchdowns, joining Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham.
2. Depth of Chiefs’ cast of pass catchers on display
While Kelce stood out, he wasn’t the only Chiefs pass-catcher to shine.
Third-year wide receiver Rashee Rice added 90 receiving yards and a touchdown on a team-high eight catches. Fellow wide receiver Xavier Worthy caught four passes for 42 yards, including a 27-yard gain. JuJu Smith-Schuster (two catches, 29 yards) added a 24-yard catch of his own.
Part of what makes Kansas City’s passing attack so deadly is that it can beat you with so many different players. And with Rice still getting his feet under him – Monday marked just his second game back after a suspension to start the year – it should continue ascending in the coming weeks.
In the first half, the Commanders kept Patrick Mahomes under duress and the Chiefs managed just 89 passing yards. Kansas City eventually found success in the second half with more short and quick passing concepts, setting up run-after-the-catch situations for the receivers. The Chiefs had 198 passing yards over the final two quarters.
3. Mike Danna is a catalyst for the Chiefs defense
Despite back-to-back turnovers on downs, the Commanders offense was moving the ball with relative ease on Kansas City early on – even with star second-year quarterback Jayden Daniels sidelined. Marcus Mariota was operating Kliff Kingsbury’s offense at a high level. He made big throws, including an impressive floating touchdown to Terry McLaurin. He used his mobility to make plays inside and outside the pocket.
But defensive end Mike Danna played a role in Washington’s failure to turn positive momentum into points early, picking off a Mariota pass inside the red zone that bounced off the hands of Deebo Samuel. And the sixth-year pro had a big third-down sack at the end of the third quarter that pushed the Commanders out of field goa rangel, preserving what was at the time a 21-7 lead. The Chiefs scored a touchdown on their next possession to push their lead to three scores.
After giving up 194 yards of offense in the first half, Kansas City gave up just 66 over the final two quarters. The Chiefs also had two takeaways.
Mike Danna has stepped up on the Chiefs defense. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
4. Mariota stepped in valiantly for Jayden Daniels
Monday night didn’t end well for Mariota and Washington’s offense, which went scoreless in the second half. In the early going, though, the former No. 2 pick showed why he’s one of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL.
In the first half, he completed 82.3% of his passes (14 of 17) for 155 yards and a touchdown with an interception. His touchdown pass to McLaurin, which hung in the air for 2.4 seconds, had just a 29.0% completion probability, according to Next Gen Stats.
What Mariota was able to do in spurts shouldn’t come as a surprise. In his two previous starts this season before Monday, the Commanders scored at least 27 points, including 41 against the Raiders in Week 3.
Mariota completed 21 of 30 passes for 213 yards and that touchdown with two interceptions for a 73.3 passer rating against Kansas City.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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