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Grading the Kansas City Chiefs’ dominance vs. the Saints on Monday Night Football

blair kerkhoff
·3 min read

The Chiefs improved to 5-0 with a solid 26-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium on Monday Night Football. Patrick Mahomes threw for a season-high 331 yards, but once again the Chiefs were led by a stellar defensive effort.

The Saints entered the game as the NFL’s highest scoring team at 31.8 points per game. They didn’t come close thanks to a defense that opened the game with a takeaway, constant pressure on Saints quarterback Derek Carr and contained running back Alvin Kamara. Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton was active throughout the game and led the Chiefs with 12 tackles.

Next: The Chiefs have their bye week. Their next game will be Oct. 20 at the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. (Central) and will be broadcast on FOX.

Passing offense: C

Veterans stepped up in the first game without wide receiver Rashee Rice. Travis Kelce was back to his old self with nine receptions for 70 yards, and JuJu Smith-Schuster turned in the biggest gain of the game with a 50-yard reception. But Smith-Schuster couldn’t corral a pass at the goal line that turned into a Khalen Saunders interception. The 324-pound former Chief returned the deflected pass 35 yards.

The best play? That had to be Kelce’s short reception and lateral to Samaje Perine that went for 21 yards. The Chiefs had faced a second-and-34 on the possession and wound up with a first down and a field goal.

Rushing offense: A

Opposing offenses have scored four touchdowns against the Saints this season and the Chiefs finished with two, both on the ground. Kareem Hunt made his first start for the Chiefs since 2018 and was the workhorse Chiefs fans remembered from 2017 and 2018. He powered behind the middle of the offensive line with Jawaan Taylor providing the final push for a 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Hunt finished with 102 rushing yards, and the Chiefs appear to be in good shape at the position as Isiah Pacheco recovers from injury.

Wide receiver Xavier Worthy recorded the second touchdown, a 3-yard run after taking the handoff from running back Carson Steele. After the score, Worthy ran to hand the ball to his mother in the stands.

Passing defense: B

Each of the first four Chiefs games opened with the opponent scoring on its first possession. The Chiefs defense made sure that didn’t happen this time when pressure forced a terrible deep throw by Carr. Safety Bryan Cook made an acrobatic interception, and the Chiefs turned the mistake into a touchdown.

Cook was burned for a deep Carr touchdown pass in the second quarter, and the quarterback screamed “I told you so.” The Chiefs made sure it didn’t happen again.

Carr, who left the game in the fourth quarter with an oblique injury, fell to 3-15 in career starts against the Chiefs. All of the others came as a member of the Raider.s

Rushing defense: A

Another stellar game by the defense in this category. Saints runner Alvin Kamara entered the game leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage per game at 134. The Chiefs’ swarming defense held him to 26 on the ground and 34 as a receiver.

This was a New Orleans offense that rolled opponents early. It cooled off after two games, and the Chiefs made sure it never got rolling on Monday.

Special teams: B

Mecole Hardman was a busy with four punt returns for 32 yards, and Steele had a nice 29 yard kickoff return. Another four-field goal game for Harrison Butker, but he missed one, a 51-yarder off the upright.