The Kansas City Chiefs evened out at 1-1 after a 17-9 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars that was close until the very end. While there's still plenty to be proven in what will be a long season to defend the Super Bowl title, these three players saved their jobs... for now.
We'll close with one who earned himself a very warm seat on the plane ride home.
Skyy Moore got back on track
Skyy Moore was not my favorite Chiefs receiver this week -- that honor would go to Justin Watson, who has been a low-key great weapon for Mahomes, a receiver who helps make his wizardry look good based on the probability of completions -- but he did completely turn his reputation around from Week 1.
Moore graded at 55.7 after Week 1 according to Pro Football Focus, and I expect that to be much higher once his Week 2 performance is factored in.
Moore grabbed three of his four targets, totaling 70 yards and a touchdown on the afternoon. One ball went for 54 yards to seal the win, and his touchdown run completely broke down Tyson Campbell in man coverage.
Moore is growing into the role of a speedster that Mahomes desparately neeeds in his arsenal. If Toney can't be the big yardage receiver the Chiefs expected him to be, Moore is the next in-line.
Perhaps the biggest moment was that aforementioned game-sealing catch. In the clutch on third down, Moore broke down the Jags' coverage and tacked on 31 yards after the catch, 12 more than was expected according to Next Gen Stats. After the 1 p.m. slate of Sunday games, that was a top-10 reception in terms of yards after the catch in Week 2.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire appears safe... for now
It seems as though Clyde Edwards-Helaire has been oscilating between safe and unsafe for several seasons now with the Chiefs... Well, consider him trending back toward safe for now, but don't expect his stay in that zone to be exactly permanent.
The Chiefs need one of their backs -- whether it be a continuation of Isiah Pacheco's great rookie season or CEH finally playing to form -- to step up. Both looked decent this week, a great sign for the Chiefs establishing a run game.
Kansas City accrued 71 non-quarterback rushing yards this week compared to 45 last week.
CEH's contributions were actually in the screen passing game, though, and not the rushing department. Kansas City wisely game-planned to take Edwards-Helaire, who has struggled with field vision in the rushing game, out of that element and used him solely as a receiver. He caught five balls for 17 yards, an average of 8.5 per catch. He was all-around involved less in the offense this week but was questionable to play due to an illness, so his positive production is a good sign.
All things considered, in limited action CEH looked decent enough to win him another week. How he performs at full availability, hopefully in Week 3, will be the true tell-tall of his progression.
Kadarius Toney still has a short leash, but didn't drop everything
Kadarius Toney couldn't complete four of the five targets he got last Thursday night in Week 1, but the extra time to sit and think about what he needs to prove moving forward appears to have gotten him on track.
Of the five balls thrown his way on Sunday afternoon, he caught all of them for 35 yards, averaging seven per catch. He was also used once in the running game, totaling three yards.
What the Chiefs need to say is his presence in the passing game, though, since using him as a rusher is a playbook wrinkle at best. While he didn't show explosive, play-making ability in Week 2, he did prove he is ready to be a steady contributor and wasn't a complete deficiency as he was in Week 1.
Fans will remember one pass deflected right off his hands and into the possession of a Lions defender last Thursday. The box score will say no such errors this week with him grabbing everything thrown his way, but he did fumble one of his passes. He was able to retain possession but it stunted a Chiefs drive.
While none of his passes were all that exotic looking specifically at catch difficulty, he was able to keep his hands on all of them, save for the recovered fumble.
Importantly, though, Toney flashed his savvy rushing ability in yards-after-catch scenarios, none more exemplary than this in the first quarter:
This is the precise example of why the Chiefs traded for Toney last year. He ran the play perfectly, making easy work for Mahomes who only had to create a few air yards on the pass. Toney did the rest, with 20 yards added after completion, 13 more than the expected seven. The blockers helped, but Toney's shiftiness did a great deal of work, too.
That's a callback to his experience as a special teams punt returner, another area the Chiefs might look to use him at some point this season.
Off the field and before the game, Toney accepted responsibility for the poor play in Week 1, a necessary step considering how firmly he was in the lowlight.
It wasn't a perfect week, but it was far better than what he showed in Week 1.
Jawaan Taylor's rule-breaking hack only worked for so long
Jawaan Taylor got away with a questionable offensive alignment in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions for most of the game and finally was called for a penalty late in the game. Mid-week, the NFL distributed alerts to teams that referees would be on high alert for such penalties moving forward after Taylor had clearly gotten away with a liberal interpretation of the rules.
In Week 2, he looked clearly mortal, taking five penalties in the afternoon.
The issue is that the penalties aren't all attributable to that one minor tweak with Taylor's offensive alignment. Two were false starts, two were holding penalties, and just one was illegal offensive formation. Taylor is completely on the wrong page in all facets of the game. While it all could be a byproduct of him trying to adjust to the NFL's crackdown on illegal formations, he needs to figure it out, and fast.
While the rest of the team appears to be progressing in the right direction, Taylor is clearly regressing. He was benched (albeit, temporarily on just one drive) during the game, a clear indicator that he needs to shape up and quick if he wants to hold his role as a starter in Kansas City.
Kansas City needs every piece of its offensive line working in sync. Clearly, Taylor isn't there. He'll need to play penalty-free football next week to save his job and win favor back with the Chiefs fanbase.
