Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City Chiefs continue their assault and other takeaways from Week 2

Jay Asser 14:57 18/09/2018
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Patrick Mahomes is very much for real and the Kansas City Chiefs have a budding star holding the reins of their offence.

    One week after throwing four touchdowns in his first game as the full-time starter, the 23-year-old quarterback sizzled in the 42-37 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, slinging six scores and 326 yards on just 23 completions.

    Mahomes had more touchdown passes than incompletions (five) and became the first player in NFL history to have 10 touchdowns in the first two games of a season.

    Tyreek Hill was involved again after going off in the opener, but this time Mahomes utilised Travis Kelce and Sammy Watkins more, with the former recording 109 yards and two scores, while the latter had 100 yards on six catches.

    Kansas City’s attack is shaping as perhaps the best – and certainly the most explosive – in the league, with Mahomes well ahead of schedule in his development.

    There were never any doubts about his potential and big-play ability coming into the season, but he’s somehow been efficient and mistake-free as well to surprisingly bringing Alex Smith’s best attributes to the table.

    No player or team is more of a must-watch right now.

    Here are other takeaways from Week 2.

    FEAR THE BEARD

    Speaking of fun quarterbacks, Ryan Fitzpatrick is making believers of the ‘Fitzmagic’ phenomenon.

    Jameis Winston should be preparing to sit on the bench or be elsewhere after the way Fitzpatrick has led the team to start the season.

    The veteran quarterback leads the league in passing yards (819), yards per attempt (13.4) and passer rating (151.5) as Tampa Bay are 2-0 and looking like a dark horse thanks to their high-octane attack.

    Fitzpatrick has clearly won over his team-mates, not just with his play on the field, but with his leadership, as evidenced by his flashy post-game get-up on Sunday, which he says was borrowed from wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

    Winning is fun and at some point, Fitzpatrick will look more like the journeyman he was coming into the season and less like the All-Pro he’s been so far, but it’s not unimaginable that the Buccaneers can continue to put up a healthy amount of points considering the talented skill players on their roster.

    GIANTS COMING UP SMALL

    This is not how the New York Giants envisioned this going when they constructed their roster in the offseason.

    A loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the opener was excusable, but following that up by being outclassed in a loss to a Dallas Cowboys team that was so uninspiring in Week 1? That’s a major concern.

    It wasn’t difficult to see this coming from the outside. The Giants finished with a 3-13 record last year and it looked like it was time for Eli Manning to retire.

    Instead of transitioning to a new era this season, the team decided to double down on Manning still having juice and drafted Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick. They passed up a number of quarterback prospects, most notably Sam Darnold, to take a player who is great at what he does, but plays a position that has little relative value.

    The offensive line, which went out and spend big money on tackle Nate Solder, continues to be an issue. Between their struggles and Manning’s ineffectiveness, New York’s skill players can’t make the same impact they otherwise could in a better situation.

    The Giants believed the pieces around Manning would lift him up. Instead, he’s bringing them down.

    Recommended