The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Washington Commanders 24-14 on Saturday in NFL preseason action.
The Chiefs jumped out to a fast start as quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a 12-play, 87-yard drive before finding Jody Fortson for a touchdown to give Kansas City a 7-0 lead.
The Commanders and quarterback Carson Wentz struggled to sustain offensive success early in the game, giving Mahomes and the Chiefs the football again.
Mahomes led another impressive drive, this time going for 12 plays and 82 yards, before again finding Fortson for a short touchdown reception. Kansas City went up 14-0, and head coach Andy Reid pulled his starters.
The Commanders ended the first half with a touchdown as quarterback Taylor Heinicke found Cam Sims to cut Kansas City’s lead to 14-7.
Washington rookie quarterback Sam Howell played most of the second half, leading the Commanders to one touchdown drive.
Here is everything we know from Washington’s preseason loss to the Chiefs.
Final score: Chiefs 24, Commanders 14
| Team | 1st quarter | 2nd quarter | 3rd quarter | 4th quarter | Final |
| Washington Commanders | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
Commanders who didn't play
The Commanders featured several players who didn’t play. Here is the full list:
- RB J.D. McKissic
- TE Curtis Hodges
- TE Cole Turner
- T Rashod Hill
- G Andrew Norwell
- T Charles Leno Jr.
- G Nolan Laufenberg
- G Trai Turner
- TE John Bates
3rd down defense
On Kansas City’s first drive, Mahomes and the offense converted on all three third-down opportunities. During Mahomes’ time on the field, Kansas City converted on all five third downs. As a team, the Chiefs converted nine of 15 third-down chances, which is 60%. Does that sound familiar?
In the preseason opener against Carolina, Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield converted all three of his team’s chances on third down. This remains a problem.
You can chalk it up to preseason. However, it’s the same issue that plagued Washington in 2021. And the Commanders didn’t change a lot on defense, instead counting on the same group of players and coaches to improve in 2022.
Commanders QBs
Of Washington’s three quarterbacks, it was backup Taylor Heinicke who performed the best. Heinicke played two drives for the Commanders, and on the first one, he completed eight of 10 passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Carson Wentz completed six of nine passes for 64 yards. He wasn’t bad, as he connected with Terry McLaurin twice and Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel once apiece. Those are the things coaches want to see from Wentz. However, the play everyone will talk about is the sack he took on third and 10 in the second quarter. It led to another punt.
Rookie Sam Howell didn’t have a repeat performance from last week. Howell did some good things, particularly on his scoring drive, as he completed some big-time throws to Dax Milne and Eli Wolf. He was intercepted late in the fourth quarter, with the Commanders down only three points. It almost looked like there was a miscommunication with the wide receiver on the route.
Commanders' top performers
- QB Taylor Heinicke: 9/12, 83 yards, touchdown
- RB Brian Robinson Jr: 8 carries, 31 yards
- WR Alex Erickson: 3 receptions, 44 yards
- RB Antonio Gibson: 3 receptions, 37 yards
- WR Dax Milne: 4 receptions, 37 yards
- S Kam Curl: 6 tackles
- DE Shaka Toney: 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits
What's next
The Commanders are back on the road next Saturday for their final preseason game at Baltimore. With a number of injuries, it will be interesting to see head coach Ron Rivera’s balance of wanting and needing to see more from his team vs. the injuries.
