What We Saw: Week 1 2018

Chiefs vs. Chargers

Chiefs

The Chiefs opened the season with a big win, on the road, against a division rival and there were fireworks from the kickoff. Andy Reid improved to 5-1 in home openers since taking over head coaching duties for KC. After KC set fantasy scoring records in 2017, the team came out on fire in 2018 and showcased their shiny new toy behind center.

Patrick Mahomes lived up to the training camp buzz out of Kansas City

One thing is certain, Patrick Mahomes is going to be fun to watch. Mahomes finished 15 for 27 for 256 and 4 passing touchdowns. The youngster was firing bullets today, but one of his most impressive throws are an incompletion, moving to his right out of the pocket and effortlessly throwing a strike that was just off target. Credit Coach Reid who dialed up an excellent gameplan for his young QB. There were some bad plays but no doubt this kid can play. Mahomes also added 21 yards on 5 rushing attempts, including a couple of designed runs. Mahomes prettiest throw of the game came on fullback swing to Anthony Sherman, a perfect 36-yard dime hitting the receiver in stride. There should be plenty more big games in Mahomes future.

Cheetah is the most electric player in the league

The first touch of the season for wideout slash return man Tyreek HIll started much like we remembered from 2017. Hill fielded a punt at the 9 and returned it 91-yards for a huge touchdown. Hill exploded down the sideline, as we becoming so familiar with. This was his 12th TD of 50+ yards and his 4th punt return TD of his young career. But he wasn’t done. Hill took a short pass from Mahomes and took it 59-yards to the house for his second TD in the 1st quarter. Later HIll added a third score, with a nifty shovel pass as he came across the formation pre-snap. The 1-yard TD was the first touchdown of his career that was less than 30 yards. That says everything you need to know about Hill.

Kareem Hunt turned in an unspectacular day

Hunt struggled to get going today, finishing with just 49 yards on 16 carries, a fairly pedestrian 3.0 YPC. He only added one catch for no yards. The Chargers led in time of possession, total yards and controlled most of the game, if not for the big plays. KC tried to slow the game down and grind the clock but Hill couldn’t find anywhere to run and end up having a disappointing day for the high draft pick.

Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins were nowhere to be seen today

KC might have too many weapons for a young QB to support. Travis Kelce had 6 targets but finished with just one catch today for 6 yards and Sammy Watkins didn’t fare much better, finishing with 3 catches for 21 yards on 5 targets. It’s clear that Mahomes has a security blanket and favorite receiver in HIll but the day had to be concerning for Kelce owners. It’s early but this is something we want to keep an eye on. While we can’t do anything about Kelce, he’s a top TE option and the centerpiece of many fantasy rosters. But if Watkins is going to be ghost, he may find himself on waiver wires very soon.

KC won despite the defense

Week 1 proved what many of us knew would be the case heading into the season, this Kansas City defense isn’t very good. They surrendered 421 passing yards and couldn’t stop the run either, giving up 123 yards on the ground. To make matters worse they gave up two red zone touchdowns in two visits. They surrendered 33 first downs, including a big fourth down conversion. This defense will not be an option for owners this year, even in cake matchups. We can expect many high scoring games for the KC offense though, the only positive about this team.

-Marc Salazar

Chargers

We have the same old Chargers. Talented enough to beat any team, but somehow they always end up losing. The 0-4 start from last year tanked a promising season on both sides of the ball, hopefully, the team can recover quicker and perform better next week. Let’s dive into what happened this week.

Tyreek is too Fast

It was a pretty simple game plan that featured a bunch of complicated plays. Get Tyreek Hill the ball. As with any game plan, when it works on the first play, the team will likely go back to it. And the Chiefs abused the Chargers with their cheetah. Any time a defense has to deal with a speed receiver it creates problems that you will not see against most other players. This Chargers team is usually fantastic in coverage as Casey Hayward, Trevor Williams and Desmond King have shown they are very talented. But nobody on this team had any chance of sticking with Tyreek. Andy Reid supplied enough confusion, Patrick Mahomes provided the arm strength, and the rest fell on Hill. Although the defense as a whole struggled, Derwin James made some excellent plays in his debut, including a pass breakup in the end zone and a sack. Melvin Ingram supplied some good pressure on the day, but without his counterpart Joey Bosa, the pass rush was not very effective. Bosa should suit up next week and the defense will perform better.

Typical Chargers Offense

This box score looks like something we have seen from Phillip Rivers for the past 10 years. Trailing the entire game, he had to play aggressive, racking up insane totals; 424 yards, 3 TD. His final stat line should look even better if it was not for two huge drops during this game. Tyrell Williams dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone that was right on the money. Later in the first half, Travis Benjamin dropped what would have been a 60+ yard reception. His drop was not nearly as egregious, but it was still inexcusable. Combined these two hauled in 3 passes for 9 yards. Melvin Gordon produced his usual gaudy numbers, hauling in 9 catches (13 targets) for 102 yards. This is a massive receiving workload for a running back, showing us that Melvin, like the previous years, is firmly entrenched in this Chargers offense. Austin Ekeler, one of the surprises of the day, also factored heavily in the passing game. He caught 5 passes for 87 yards, one of which was a 30-yard catch and run for a touchdown. Ekeler’s talent was on display yet again and has proven to be a very capable back. Keenan Allen was as expected—spectacular. Allen was all over the field and seemed to be open more than he was covered. Rivers loves to throw his way, and this should not be any surprise. Allen made an incredible grab up the right sideline that appeared to be a touchdown. It was called back shortly after, but it only took Rivers and Allen a few more plays to find the end zone anyway. When healthy, Allen is a top 5 receiver. (Mike Williams will be covered below). All of this shows in Rivers gaudy final stat line. The talent around him is immense, which makes his job easier. Assuming these Chargers work on their hands a bit, this could be a monster year for Rivers.

The Better Williams

Mike Williams! We have been waiting. And we had to wait for most of the first half before he started getting significant snaps. But finally, the playing time was there, he looked healthy, and he actually produced! He ran some very sharp routes and looked impressive the entire second half. Although he was still behind Allen and Gordon in the target share, this is still very encouraging. Especially when his fellow receivers had poor showings. Mike Williams is the better Williams and should be the number two wideout in this offense. He will provide matchup nightmares for number 2 corners and should be able to handle himself outside if the Charges want to slide Allen to the slot for a given play. He ended the game with 5 catches for 81 yards, with a long of 25. For those of you who own Williams in a dynasty, or drafted him late this year, you should be encouraged. This offense should be prolific and there is definitely room for Mike Williams to carve out a role.

Look Ahead

The Charges take on the hard-luck Bills in Buffalo next week. The Bills could not seem to stop anything against the Ravens as they lost 47-3. The Charges need to take advantage of this easy matchup to get their defense on track. The offense should have no problem against this Bills defense, as Allen and Gordon should be great. Ekeler and Mike Williams are the next up in this offense and their roles should be monitored accordingly.

-Stephen Dudas