Arrowheadlines: Josh Gordon will potentially be ready to go vs the Bills

Chiefs headlines for Monday, October 4

The latest

New Chiefs receiver Josh Gordon impressing already, could be activated next week | NFL.com

Gordon, the 30-year-old who was signed to Kansas City’s practice squad, was reinstated fully by the NFL on Sept. 27 after another lengthy suspension. The hope was to join a practice squad, get up to speed, then join the 53-man roster. That should come soon.

When asked how Gordon looks, coach Andy Reid joked, “He looks in pretty good shape. He’s got less body fat than I do.”

A low-risk signing, Gordon could pay off quickly. He was described looking like a No. 1 receiver, 230 pounds and fast. One source said you would never know he’s 30. He has really flashed in practice.

In a disjointed career, Gordon has always been a big-play guy, averaging nearly 20 yards per catch with the Seahawks and nearly 15 with the Patriots in 2019.

He’s also picked up the offense quickly, thanks in part to some similarities from what he ran in Cleveland when he first entered the league with the Browns. Brad Childress was the offensive coordinator on that 2012 team, meaning some of the verbiage is the same.

NFL Week 4 grades: Cowboys get an ‘A-’ for beating undefeated Panthers, Titans get a ‘D’ for stunning loss | CBS Sports

A Chiefs

The Chiefs just had to make sure they didn’t beat themselves against the Eagles — and essentially did. Kansas City scored six touchdowns on seven possessions and dominated Philadelphia at the line of scrimmage in the process, rushing for 200 yards in the win. Patrick Mahomes threw for five touchdowns in the win — three of which went to Tyreek Hill — and had just six incomplete passes. The Chiefs defense also was better, holding the Eagles to just 3 of 6 in the red zone (and one of those touchdowns was in the final seconds) after allowing 91.7 percent of opponents red-zone trips to score heading into the game. Andy Reid had a well-coached game against an inferior team, scoring on all their red-zone trips. The Chiefs took care of business and got back on track, even though there’s still work to do.

Eagles see red in blown scoring chances in loss to Chiefs | Yahoo Sports

It’s not just an undisciplined offense hurting Philadelphia.

Eagles defensive end Derek Barnett — always good for an untimely penalty — was whistled for a personal foul that gave the Chiefs a first down at the 3. The Chiefs scored a TD with 51 seconds left in the first half.

“They are costing us, extending drives,” Slay said. “We need to get off the field, so they are tough. But that’s self-discipline.”

Hurt threw the ball away multiple times on fourth down and said Eagles fans need to keep quiet.

“Little stuff like crowd gets loud, that’s something new for me,” he said. “Quiet them down, everyone can hear me.”

2021 NFL season, Week 4: What we learned from Sunday’s games | NFL.com

Next Gen stat of the game: Mahomes was pressured on a season-low 12.9% of his dropbacks. He had an 83.8 completion percentage, 130.5 passer rating with no pressure in 2021 (30.0 completion percentage, 60.1 passer rating with pressure).

Opening Week 5 Bills vs. Chiefs odds plus early movement | DraftKings Nation

Bills vs. Chiefs

Current point spread: Chiefs -3.5

Point total: 56

Moneyline: Chiefs -195, Bills +165

Opening point spread: Chiefs -4.5

Opening point total: 54.5

Early pick: Bills +3.5

If you’re into scoring, you’re in for a treat with this Week 5 matchup between two of the NFL’s best offenses. As far as where you should place your money, the over on the points total seems like a smart bet. Between Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and Tyreek Hill, this has the chance to be the highest-scoring game of the season. Kansas City should have the advantage over the Bills since they’re playing this game at Arrowhead, but Buffalo has been dominant in their wins this season. This Sunday night primetime matchup will be a fun one.

Around the NFL

Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady greeted with Patriots tribute video, ‘Brady’ cheers, embraces in New England return | ESPN

The New England Patriots honored Tom Brady with a one-minute video of his top highlights, which sparked the rain-soaked crowd to chant his name in appreciation before the star quarterback led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers onto the field for Sunday night’s game at Gillette Stadium.

Cheers of “Brady! Brady! Brady!” then filled the stadium.

By night’s end, it was Brady and the Bucs who took home the win, 19-17 after Patriots kicker Nick Folk missed a go-ahead, 56-yard field goal try in the final minute.

Broncos vs. Ravens score: Lamar Jackson hands Denver first loss, as Teddy Bridgewater suffers concussion | CBS Sports

Why the Broncos lost

I refuse to say that the Broncos lost due to the loss of Bridgewater, because it’s not like he was playing incredibly well. He completed 7 of 16 passes for 65 yards and one touchdown in the first half, and was outscored by 10 points. Lock didn’t do anything to spark this offense in the second half either, as he missed on his opportunity to prove to his team that he’s a legitimate starting quarterback as well.

What really stood out to me from this game were the struggles of Denver’s secondary. This was the first decent opponent the Broncos faced all season, and that was evident at times. The defensive backs had several miscues which led to big plays, such as Brown’s 49-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Again, this was just Jackson’s second-ever regular-season game in which he threw for over 300 yards! Overall, the grade the Broncos earned was still an “incomplete” since we didn’t get a chance to see if Bridgewater could rally the troops in the final two quarters, but it wasn’t an impressive performance all around.

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs’ two INTs continues streak; fourth-quarter absence result of back tightness | NFL.com

Both INTs came in the third quarter on back-to-back Panthers possessions and resulted in 10 Cowboys points to extend their lead to 36-14 entering the fourth quarter. Diggs’ absence in the final frame was a curious case as the Cowboys lead dwindled into a one-possession game after two touchdowns from WR D.J. Moore, who broke free in Diggs’ absence.

A team spokesman after the game that Diggs was “managing some tightness in his back.”

Said McCarthy: “He could have returned if needed to. … It was bothering him at halftime.”

San Francisco 49ers rookie QB Trey Lance replaces Jimmy Garoppolo, who’s set to have MRI on calf | ESPN

But if the right calf injury Garoppolo suffered in Sunday’s 28-21 loss to the Seattle Seahawks causes him to miss games, Shanahan will have no choice.

“We’ve been playing with rookie running backs since the second play of the first game and we’ve got a rookie quarterback right now,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, Jimmy is better, and not as bad as we think, but Trey is here for a reason. You want to give him time, you want him to be fully ready, but you don’t always have that luxury.”

NFL Week 4 takeaways: What we learned, big reaction questions and stat leaders for every game | ESPN

What’s going to stop the Cardinals at this point? Not much. Are they going to go undefeated? Probably not, but it’s more likely they get in their own way this season than being stopped by another team. Arizona needs to tighten its run defense, which gave up 68 yards in the first quarter on Sunday. It allowed just 53 in the final three quarters, but that number can be deceiving because the Rams were playing from behind. The Cardinals’ offense is diverse and efficient and quick and combustible. At this point, an overconfidence or getting too fancy in the playcalling are about the only things that could stop the Arizona offense. — Weinfuss

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

5 winners and 4 losers from the Chiefs’ win over the Eagles

Patrick Mahomes: A really steady and consistent performance led Mahomes to his first four-touchdown game of the season. With the running game also working well, the offense was humming. Sure… there was an interception — but that was partially due to Mahomes being hit, which affected how the ball came out. But after that, Mahomes just kept coming back again and again until they had the chance to close out the game. Instead of just running out the clock — or risking a punt or fumble — Mahomes recognized Hill was running free and went for the jugular, lobbing a strike to put the game out of reach.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire: Clyde was fantastic again, following up last week’s performance with another gem. Once again, he had over 100 yards rushing and a receiving touchdown. Against the Eagles, he averaged over seven yards per carry — and was decisive and explosive in space. The offensive line deserves a lot of credit for opening huge holes for Edwards-Helaire — and everyone else — en route to a dominant 32 rushes for 200 yards, which is 6.3 yards per attempt. It was great to see the team be able to control the game by running the ball when they wanted to. As this season moves along, that’ll come in handy.

5 things we learned as Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles – Arrowhead Pride

On this job, Kansas City shouldn’t put the shovel down

If you had told me on Saturday that the Chiefs would try their goal line shovel pass twice during Sunday’s game, I would have said that one of them wouldn’t work.

The first went to Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the opening quarter. Before the half ended, the Chiefs tried it again — this time to tight end Jody Fortson. Kansas City scored touchdowns on both plays — and neither of them went to their usual target: tight end Travis Kelce.

Kelce, however, played a significant role in Fortson’s touchdown. Before the snap, he turned to Mahomes, waving his arms as if his teammates were in the wrong formation for a pass coming to him. Right up until the ball was snapped, it appeared that the play — whatever it was supposed to be — was likely going to be a disaster.

Kelce had fooled everybody. At the snap, he immediately turned and ran to the left. Eagles defenders — who had worked hard to keep Kelce out of the game — followed, leaving Fortson little resistance to catch the pass and score.

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