The Kansas City Chiefs had a dominant offensive performance on Sunday. Can they continue to build momentum in Week 5?
By Stacy D. Smith|16 hours ago
The national conversation this week won’t center on the dominance of Kansas City’s Week 4 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Instead, the spotlight will fall on the Ravens’ rash of injuries, with key defensive players either inactive or sidelined during the contest. The in-game context will make Sunday’s fireworks easy to dismiss. I don’t share the sentiment, but I do think Kansas City needs to build on the offensive display we saw on Sunday.
One of my biggest takeaways from Sunday came on the Chiefs’ eighth offensive possession. Early in the fourth quarter, the Ravens had just turned the ball over on downs after failing to convert a 4th-and-2 from their own 24-yard line. With 14 minutes left, the game was firmly in Kansas City’s control. Most teams in that situation would run the ball to chew up clock and minimize risk. The Chiefs ran once—and then threw on three straight plays, the last a 15-yard touchdown to Hollywood Brown. The subtext was clear: this offense is striving to build confidence and momentum. Even after its best performance of the season, Andy Reid and company were still “in the lab.”
In Week 5, on Monday Night Football, the Chiefs travel to Duval to face the 3-1 Jacksonville Jaguars. While the Jags currently lead the AFC South, they’ve benefited from a favorable schedule to start the season. Right now, Jacksonville has the league’s No. 4 scoring defense, surrendering just 18 points per game. They’ve excelled in two areas in particular: stopping the run and creating turnovers. This presents a golden opportunity to see if the Chiefs’ offense can build on its Week 4 performance.
The Kansas City Chiefs had a dominant offensive performance on Sunday. Can they continue to build momentum in Week 5?
We may already have some evidence that what we saw against the Ravens is more transformation than trend. This offense began showing signs of life in the second half of the Week 3 game with the Giants. Last Monday, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer had this to say about a halftime coaches meeting that catalyzed the turnaround:
“At halftime yesterday at the Meadowlands, they met as an offense in the locker room, and basically—I’m not gonna say it was like a come-to-Jesus meeting—but the coaches sat down with the players and said, “We need to stop trying, trying to do too much. We need to play each play for itself, like play by play. That’s how we’re going to try—how we’re going to attack the rest of this game.”
When play resumed, the Chiefs scored on two of their four meaningful drives over the final 30 minutes of regulation. (There was a fifth second-half possession, but the team was in victory formation for the last three plays.) The two scoring drives lasted 11 and nine plays, respectively, and the offense truly looked like a different unit—not perfect but efficient and more comfortable than we’d seen in a while.
Six quarters of NFL football is still a small sample size, but Kansas City has a chance to build on that résumé on Monday night. My focus isn’t just on offensive output; it’s on whether the unit can sustain drives and convert red zone trips into points. That’s crucial with even bigger matchups looming against the Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills. It’s also likely to predict if the Chiefs are turning the corner or just treading water as October approaches.
Fans may credit Xavier Worthy’s return for the offensive awakening on Sunday, but Mahomes having time to throw was also a major factor. For the second time this season, the offense didn’t have to rely on Mahomes’ legs. He has just seven rushing yards over that stretch, and he hasn’t had to break the pocket nearly as frequently. If that trend continues, this offense will be a tough out for any defense in the National Football League.
On Sunday, we saw a Chiefs offense that was having fun again. They were reminded of what their ceiling looks like when all the pieces click. Stacking quality performances is crucial in this league, even for a team that’s made three consecutive Super Bowl appearances. The more they can reinforce their confidence with results, the better positioned they’ll be for the toughest games remaining on the schedule. Here’s to Monday night and a chance to deliver a second straight offensive clinic.
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