What We Saw: Week 2

Kansas City Chiefs @ Jacksonville Jaguars

Final Score: Chiefs 17, Jaguars 9

Writer: Brian Hartman (@TooMuch_Brian on Twitter)

The Chiefs clashed with the Jaguars in a game that initially seemed to move at a snail’s pace, giving fans a rollercoaster of emotions. It was a razor-thin margin of 7 Chiefs to 6 Jaguars at halftime. The tension heightened as Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones narrowly missed converting catches in the endzone, keeping everyone in their seats.

Ever the maestro, Patrick Mahomes orchestrated the Chiefs’ offense, tallying 305 yards and 2 touchdowns, but not without a dash of drama, including a couple of turnovers. Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence led the Jaguars’ flat offense with 216 passing yards. Some of the credit goes to the return of Chris Jones, adding his sack-and-a-half, and a batted pass. Though they didn’t amount to many yards, you always love the trickery Head Coach Doug Peterson adds to his playcalling. In a game where every yard counted, Christian Kirk’s impressive 11 receptions for 110 yards shone like a beacon of hope for Jacksonville. It might not have been a touchdown fest, but it was certainly a nail-biter that kept fans guessing until the end. With the win the Chiefs avoid going 0 and 2, the last defending champ to do so being the ’99 Broncos.

Three Up

• Skyy Moore – He showcased his speed today and was the beneficiary of a touchdown. Will it be something he can replicate?
• Christian Kirk – Kirk was so much more inspiring of a fantasy player this week. Let’s hope the target share continues. Week 1: 9.4% target share, Week 2: 34.1% target share.

Three Down

• Tank Bigsby – Where was he?

Kansas City Chiefs

Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes: 29/41, 305 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int | 7 carries, 30 yards

What is there to say here that we don’t already have a firm grasp of? Mahomes brought the same magic we see most weeks. Though we saw this week come at a slower pace, with him having the likes of Devin Lloyd, Josh Allen, and K’Lavon Chaisson in his face for most of the afternoon, he continued to share the wealth to allow new receivers to shine this week. The wide receiver snap totals didn’t fluctuate much, but Kadarius Toney now leads this team in targets on just 25 routes run.

Notes

• Right Tackle Jawaan Taylor was benched after a 5 penalty day. Consistency at that position is something the Chiefs will need to keep Mahomes upright.

Running Back

Isiah Pacheco: 12 carries, 70 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception

Pacheco had a couple of lengthy runs that keep you confident in his ability to be the main rusher in the offense. With his limited work in the passing game, though he is dependent on touchdowns.

Jerick Mckinnon: 1 carry, -2 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 24 yards

Jerick was uninspiring in the few touches he received.

Clyde Edwards- Helaire: 1 carry | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Skyy Moore: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 70 yards, 1 TD

If you plan to play any pass catchers not named Travis Kelce, you have punched your ticket to the carousel ride. This week was just another example of what we saw last season: Mahomes will spread the ball to everyone. Skyy looked like that was the ceiling for him, up in the clouds! He was absolutely electric on his three receptions, but he will struggle to be consistent without a bigger piece of this pie.

Justin Watson: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 62 yards

Watson always has a possibility of a handful of deep plays, too bad it’s as random as the hand Mahomes will throw from.

Rashee Rice: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 20 yards 

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 13 yards

Travis Kelce: 9 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards, 1 TD

Looking at the targets you would guess Kelce is back but he was clearly not a hundred percent. Luckily for everyone that played him his partial is better than most. As his relationship with Taylor Swift has taken off,  so has the touchdown count with Kelce finding the “Blank Spaces” in the endzone.

Noah Grey: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 38 yards

Jacksonville Jaguars

Quarterback

Trevor Lawrence: 22/41, 216 yards | 5 carries, 26 yards

With all of the talk of the Jags owing the Cheifs for their exit in the playoffs last year, they came out flat. With the Vegas implied team total being one of the highest of the week, this game did not deliver on the fantasy-scoring side. Ridley and Lawrence didn’t connect as often as last week, but they gave it their best effort. Chris Jones did not provide Lawrence many opportunities today, keeping him moving throughout the pocket, and the Jags struggled to protect the leader. Lawrence had a shot to tie up the game being down 8 points with just over 4 minutes remaining but the 4th down play fell incomplete. Overall the red flags are not coming up yet. This team has far too much talent and should come into their own.

Running Back

Travis Etienne: 12 carries, 40 yards | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 2 yards

Etienne looked decent out there but with an offensive line that was torn up today, it left little room for him to work. Seeing Johnson split work with Etienne today was my biggest surprise. The rookie Tank Bigsby did not walk away with a single opportunity today.

D’ernest Johnson: 1 carries, 8 yards | 1 targets, 1 reception, 9 yards

Will he remain the number two in this backfield? We’ll be looking for news on Bigsby after the game.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Christian Kirk: 1 carry, -1 yard | 14 targets, 11 receptions, 110 yards 

If you wondered if Krik was still on the team after Week 1, he rectified that today. Kirk looked like the surprise player that we had last year. whether it was taking screen plays and weaving through traffic or snagging key 3rd down plays in the second half, Kirk showed that he will compete for targets in this offense.

Calvin Ridley: 8 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards 

It’ll have to be a throw-away game as far as fantasy managers are concerned. He looked as smooth as he did last week without the receptions we saw last week. Ridley still seemed to be Lawrecence’s favorite target and he saw plenty of redzone looks. One thing to monitor is that on the final drive for the Jaguars, Ridley hit the goal post and was shaken up a bit when bringing in the ball ultimately to be oot of bounds.

Jamal Agnew: 1 target, 1 reception, 5 yards 

Zay Jones: 6 targets

Missed Opportunities

• Six targets and he came away with none of them. It’s hard to believe because I had heard his name all day. The encouraging part was the fact that he still drew in six targets. Zay did leave the field for a bit due to a knee injury so that’ll be something to monitor.

Evan Engram: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 57 yards 

Engram quietly had a productive day. Engram’s athleticism is truly incredible to watch, it seems as if Jacksonville is the home he always needed.