The Chiefs are the best team in the NFL, and it isn’t even close

The Kansas City Chiefs proved they are by far the NFL’s best on Monday night.

The Kansas City Chiefs delivered an emphatic statement with their 34-20 win on Monday Night Football over the Baltimore Ravens, reminding the NFL they are the dominant force of the league. And that, at present, it is not at all close.

Patrick Mahomes eviscerated the Ravens in the first half. What was expected to be a heavyweight battle of undefeated teams turned into a mismatch that was over by the break.

Mahomes found yet more ways to amaze the NFL universe with another collection of seemingly impossible deep throws while Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy dug deep into their bag of tricks in a game that saw touchdown passes thrown to fullback Anthony Sherman and left tackle Eric Fisher.

As the defeat of Baltimore showed, the gap between the Chiefs and the rest of the league is more of a chasm and the numbers from their primetime masterclass reflect that.

Mahomes’ deep-ball magic

The battle between the last two league MVPs was over in a hurry, with Mahomes’ absurd accuracy on downfield throws coming to the fore.

On throws of 10 Air Yards or more, Mahomes went 7-of-11 for 186 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with his completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) a mammoth 17.5%, according to NextGen Stats.

Contrast that to Jackson, who attempted 11 such throws and completed only three of them for 37 yards and a touchdown. His CPOE was minus 18.8%.

Jackson is a better deep ball thrower than he is given credit for, however, he is not on the same plane as Mahomes, whose ability to negate the blitz was a critical factor in the Chiefs’ success.

Brilliant against the blitz

Mahomes went into the game with the Ravens blitzed at the lowest rate of any quarterback in the NFL since 2018, when he became the Chiefs’ starter.

Teams had blitzed Mahomes only 20 percent of the time prior to Monday and he spectacularly demonstrated why opponents have been so reticent to send extra defenders at him.

Baltimore blitzed Mahomes on 45 percent of dropbacks but generated pressure on only two of 19 blitz dropbacks.

Mahomes completed 15 passes on those dropbacks for 191 yards and three touchdowns. A truly stunning performance and one that will lead to further questions as to how exactly teams are supposed to stop the Chiefs.

Exacerbating that problem is the fact the Chiefs defense appears to be improving at shutting down opposing offenses.

Chiefs secondary outperforming expectations

Many expected the Kansas City secondary to be a problem area for the Chiefs, especially with Bashaud Breeland suspended for the first four games of the season.

But their young corners proved up to the task on Monday night, allowing a combined 10 receiving yards when targeted as the nearest defender, with rookie fourth-round pick L’Jarius Sneed continuing to excel, though Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reported he has suffered a broken collarbone.

As long as Mahomes stays healthy and the Chiefs’ secondary performs to that kind of level, it is tough to see how any opponent can knock Kansas City off their perch. However, in Week 4 they face a familiar foe that may just have the best shot.

Can the Patriots keep pace?

The New England Patriots head to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday after a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders that took them to 2-1.

It was not a game in which Cam Newton excelled throwing the ball as he did in the Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, but the Patriots once again impressed on the ground.

New England had 250 rushing yards against the Raiders in a contest that saw Sony Michel average 13 yards per attempt.

The Chiefs, who are 30th in Football Outsiders rush defense DVOA, are clearly vulnerable in that area of the game. Yet, with the Patriots pass defense 27th in the same metric, recent history says they will have to emerge from a shootout to leave Kansas City with a win.

If there is one coach who can find a way to stop Mahomes, it is Bill Belichick. But arguably the best weapon he has at his disposal, the potential to control the ball with the ground game, might be immaterial if, as expected, their defense cannot hold up against Mahomes and the Chiefs’ stacked offense.

The Chiefs are not a perfect team. They have a weakness but, through the first three weeks of the season, it has not mattered. Belichick’s challenge is to either make it matter or to find a way to beat them on the strength of Newton’s arm.