KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Twenty-two days shy of their regular-season opener, the Chiefs appear to be, to borrow an Andy Reid phrase, ready to roll.
Well, the starters do anyway, and that’s really what matters here.
Patrick Mahomes has played three offensive drives in two preseason games. He’s led the Chiefs to three touchdowns. That included a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Jody Fortson in a 24-14 win Saturday against Washington at Arrowhead Stadium.
You have the basics.
Let’s get more in-depth with the five takeaways immediately after the game.
1. Mahomes is Mahomes
For all the chaos that engulfed the Chiefs’ offense this offseason — you know, like trading away their one-of-one wide receiver — let’s not forget the stabilizing piece.
It’s only the preseason — consider this entire column to be in recognition of that — but Mahomes has not yet lost a thing without Tyreek Hill, who led the Chiefs’ wideouts in receiving in each of Mahomes’ first four years as a starter in the NFL before being traded to Miami.
A week ago in Chicago, Mahomes completed six passes on a touchdown drive — all six to different receivers. In Saturday’s follow-up, he completed six passes — five of them to different receivers. (He saved two completions for tight end Jody Fortson, both of them touchdowns.)
In three drives this preseason, Mahomes has completed 18 of 26 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns.
Which leads us to ...
2. We’ve seen enough of No. 15
The next time we see Mahomes, it ought to be in Glendale, Ariz.
Look, as other NFL teams shy away from playing some of their star players at all, it made sense for the Chiefs to play Mahomes some. There’s a lot new about this year’s offense — from the receivers to some of the route combinations — and game reps, even in the preseason, are significantly more beneficial than those in training camp.
But that work is done. We’ve seen plenty. It might be a long break before Sept. 11, the date of the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Cardinals, but if Mahomes looks this comfortable after six months off, he’ll be fine after three weeks.
3. Have the Chiefs found their red-zone target?
In revamping their receivers room in the spring, the Chiefs provided Mahomes something he really hasn’t enjoyed much during his time in Kansas City.
Big targets.
Turns out, the Chiefs might have already had that answer on the roster. I’ve long advocated for more Jody Fortson snaps — though not nearly to the degree of beat writer Herbie Teope, who is on the verge of breaking the no-cheering-in-the-press-box rule — and that’s not going to die down anytime soon.
Fortson caught two touchdown passes Saturday, but most notable was the first. The Chiefs lined him up alone on the outside, where they got the single-coverage they sought. Mahomes threw the ball back-shoulder, and Fortson made easy work of the catch.
For a few seasons now, Reid has had to be pretty creative to convert red-zone trips into touchdowns — partially because he lacked a receiver who can just go get it.
Fortson could fit that description.
4. How the Chiefs’ defense can play faster
It was the entire goal of the defensive blueprint this offseason — get younger on defense because younger means faster. The Chiefs signed safety Justin Reid out of the gate and later targeted some speed in the draft.
But it’s a pair of incumbents who could help their cause the most. Nick Bolton and Willie Gay have taken over the full-time roles at linebacker, after Anthony Hitchens and Ben Niemann combined for heavy workloads the past three seasons.
Both in training camp and now during the preseason, Bolton has specifically appeared to have taken a sizable step forward. He had three tackles and a pass breakup in the first two drives Saturday. The Chiefs have long needed more production from their linebackers. This is a year they should get it.
5. Karlaftis is giving us a pretty good preview
While the Chiefs publicly state their preference to draft best-available as opposed to fitting positional need, George Karlaftis sure fit a very specific need.
Based on the small sample size, it doesn’t appear they stretched their draft board to fill it.
Karlaftis, the rookie defensive end out of Purdue, has collected a sack in each preseason game, and what’s more telling is the manner in which he’s done so. They’ve been the product of effort plays — Karlaftis not giving up after his initial move didn’t work. On Saturday, he needed to beat a double-team to record his sack.
