With Patrick Mahomes under center, the #Chiefs have dominated NFL in expected points added per play.
Patrick Mahomes is entering his eighth year in the NFL and has been an unquestionably strong performer for the Kansas City Chiefs, putting up league-topping stats as the team’s starting quarterback while leading the franchise to three Super Bowl victories.
Under Mahomes’ leadership, the Chiefs have dominated the NFL and a look at their expected points added (EPA) per play numbers confirms it, they have led the entire league almost every season Mahomes has started for Kansas City, including 2018, the year he first took over under center.
Watch Hayley Lewis break the stats down in this Chiefs News Daily video posted on Twitter by KC Sports Network:
Although the Chiefs’ EPA dipped sharply in 2023 as Patrick Mahomes struggled somewhat to keep the offense performing at its peak, the team still blazed through their competition match after match to get to the Super Bowl and secure the third championship in February.
The Chiefs’ new-look offense will defend their champion status, entering their 2024 campaign hungry for continued success in the NFL. Watch the team’s journey continue Saturday when they face the Detroit Lions.
Five key stats to know ahead of Monday’s rematch between the Commanders and Eagles.
The Washington Commanders [4-5] head back on the road in Week 10 against the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles [8-0].
The two longtime rivals met in Week 3, with Philadelphia walking away with a 24-8 win. The first meeting was a strange one. The two teams went scoreless in the first quarter before the Eagles went wild in the second quarter, scoring 24 consecutive points to head into halftime with a 24-0 lead.
Washington defensive tackle Daron Payne tackled running back Boston Scott for a safety in the fourth quarter. Commanders running back Antonio Gibson added a late touchdown to make the score more respectable.
The biggest takeaway from the first meeting was Philly’s defense sacking Washington quarterback Carson Wentz nine times. Wentz will not be on the field for Monday as Taylor Heinicke makes his fourth consecutive start at quarterback for the Commanders.
Let’s examine five key stats ahead of Monday’s NFC East rematch.
Here are five key stats ahead to know ahead of Sunday’s battle between the Commanders and Eagles.
In case you haven’t heard, Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz faces his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles, in Week 3.
Both quarterbacks discussed one another this week, showing respect to the other. Wentz was grateful for his time in Philadelphia but is now happy to be in Washington. Meanwhile, Hurts talked about his one season as Wentz’s teammate.
The quarterbacks aren’t the only ones on the field Sunday. Hurts leads his Eagles [2-0] into FedEx Field to play the Commanders [1-1]. Each team features an explosive offense, led by a terrific trio of wide receivers.
A crazy red-zone scoring streak. The best defensive performance since, 2019? 2017? Game balls, key stats and more as Dallas accepted the challenge. | From @KDDrummondNFL
The Dallas Cowboys worked their way back into the win column this past week. Yes, the victory was achieved during their week of practice where the players were none too happy with their performance against the Denver Broncos in Week 9. The Atlanta Falcons were in the wrong place at the wrong time and found themselves on the receiving end of a 40 burger that went down easy for win-hungry Cowboys.
Dallas started off quickly, scoring on their first possession, then floored the pedal in the second quarter, scoring 29 straight points to tuck the game away at halftime. They barely broke a second-half sweat in winning 43-3.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been on the hot seat pretty much since 2020 went awry, but he should have built a lot of leeway with Dallas’ 6-1 start to the season. However his decision making was questioned yet again as Dallas fell flat for the first time all year. However, he orchestrated the most chest-beating bounce back that could be imagined, a thorough and absolute beat down of a conference opponent which entering the game was holding down a playoff spot.
The Dallas Cowboys came into Week 15’s matchup with the Los Angeles Rams as a broken team. The offense had looked horrible for three-straight weeks. The defense hadn’t looked right for much of the season and had several stretches in the last few …
The Dallas Cowboys came into Week 15’s matchup with the Los Angeles Rams as a broken team. The offense had looked horrible for three-straight weeks. The defense hadn’t looked right for much of the season and had several stretches in the last few games where players looked like they weren’t giving maximum effort. The special teams units were an embarrassment of the highest magnitude.
As a result, the owner had been on the radio several weeks in a row discussing the head-coaching search despite Jason Garrett remaining employed. It was an absolute mess and it felt as if things were going to change in 2019, it had to happen quick and in a hurry. They did. Dallas summoned the pride of their ancestors and absolutely throttled the Los Angeles Rams, 44-21 to pull even on the season at 7-7.
The Cowboys reached their season high in points while at their lowest point of the season.
What a world.
It was over when…
… Dak Prescott somehow escaped a sure sack from Dante Fowler, stepped up into the pocket, and after the Rams’ secondary collided with each other, found Tavon Austin open for a wide open , 59-yard touchdown.
The score gave Dallas a 14-7 lead and announced that unlike the previous two weeks, the Cowboys wouldn’t be going in the tank after their first score of the game. This time, Dallas continued to play well on both sides of the ball and instead of getting ran, did the running, scoring 30 straight points to make the game into a second-half laugher.
Conventional Stats
Efficiency Stats
Game Balls
Sean Lee
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Lee turned back the clock. Starting for Leighton Vander Esch once again, Lee missed the entire week of practice with pectoral and thigh injuries. The rest worked as he was all over the field when Dallas needed him most. Lee secured his first interception of the season and first since 2017 before halftime, giving Dallas another possession and allowing them to balloon their lead from 21-7 to 28-7.
In the second half, Lee came in for a huge sack of Jared Goff, his first full sack since 2015. It was a banner day for a player who has struggled much of the year in limited action.
Kai Forbath
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Needing to be released back in February, somehow Brett Maher lasted through Week 14 of this season. Finally, Dallas brought in kickers to tryout and settled on Forbath. He flubbed the opening kickoff and it seemed destined to be a bad day when the Rams started from their 40-yard line.
Then Forbath went into Cobra Kai mode. He nailed a 50-yarder, then firmly knocked through two more field goals from over 40 and made five extra points.
He ended up kicking another one out of bounds late in the fourth quarter.
Ezekiel Elliott
Much has been made about Elliott’s lack of explosive plays this season. With the Cowboys struggling and Prescott playing the first half of the year in the MVP race, he’s been discounted far too often. Over the last several weeks he’s picked up his play, but it hasn’t been worth much as Dallas has trailed big early and abandoned the run game.
Not Sunday.
Elliott was masterful with several big gains on both the ground and through the air, ending the game with 160 total yards and two scores (both on the ground) giving him 11 touchdowns for the season.
Tony Pollard
When Elliott wasn’t giving the Rams’ defense the business, Pollard was spelling him and dictating his own terms. The fourth-round pick was sorely missed against Chicago 10 days ago, but he came through in a major way against the Rams.
In the playoff loss to LA, Dallas watched as Todd Gurley and CJ Anderson performed the dynamic duo role. This time, Dallas starred as the superheroes.
Pollard chipped in 85 yards on the ground, giving Dallas over 200 in rushing as a team, and also threw in another 12 yards receiving. He was everything we mentioned in our 5 to Watch pre-game column:
Ezekiel Elliott’s handcuff should see a ton of action against the Rams as the Cowboys offense looks to emerge from their doldrums that have infected their possessions over the last couple weeks. Pollard is a weapon in his shiftiness and tackle-breaking ability with excellent balance and needs to be part of both the passing and running game for the Cowboys.
Key Stat: 97
Rams’ punter Tom Hekker is a big weapon for their team. After Dallas earned a stop, leading 14-7, Hekker booted a masterful punt that placed Dallas at their own three-yard line with a lot of tough yardage to go. Eight minutes and 14 plays later, Elliott was celebrating in the end zone from one-yard out and Dallas had their second 90-plus-yard drive of the first half.
Quick Hits
Jourdan Lewis is now third on the team in sacks after notching another one, his third in the last two weeks. He also leads the team in interceptions with two. Somehow, the Cowboys have kept their biggest playmaker on the bench for much of the last two years, as he is only starting due to Anthony Brown’s injury issues. Insane.
Michael Bennett continues to notch pre-snap penalties, getting two off-sides called on him. Fortunately it was late in the game and didn’t impact the final result, but it is maddening.
The Cowboys’ star receivers? Amari Cooer, Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb combined for just 22 total receiving yards.
Blake Jarwin continues to be impressive with gaining yards after the catch, but Jason Witten turned back the clock on an early touchdown reception.
A look at some of the numbers that popped out during the Kansas City Chiefs’ 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
It was a close game, but in the end, the Chiefs came away with the victory. There are lots of great stats in this game to go over so let’s jump right into it. Here are my key stats from the Week 11 victory.
91
We have been tracking this stat for a bit now, but with his first catch of the game, Travis Kelce became the fastest tight end in NFL history to reach 6,000 yards and 450 receptions. He did so in 91 games passing hall of fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr who achieved this in 94 games. Kelce has become widely recognized as the best tight end in the game right now and continues to add to his resume as one of the best to ever play the game.
3
The Chargers seemingly moved the ball at will in the first half, but the common theme for them in that half was three. No matter what big plays they managed to make in the first half, their only scoring drives ended in three points. At halftime, the score was 10-9 in favor of the Chiefs mostly due to the defensive performance by Kansas City. Their defense gave up some big plays, but never let them in the end zone.
2
While we are talking about the defense you have to mention the first-half turnovers with two interceptions off of Philip Rivers. Both of the big offseason signings by the Chiefs got in on the action and gave Kansas City a lead at the half. The first interception was created by a fantastic rush from the edge by Frank Clark, ripping Rivers’ arm and sending the ball right into Derrick Nnadi’s lap for the pick, and the second was a perfect disguise in coverage followed by an athletic grab by Mathieu setting up the Chiefs for their only touchdown of the half.
11,000
Halfway through the fourth quarter LeSean McCoy took a carry up the middle putting him over 11,000 career rushing yards. Among active players in the NFL that ranks third in career rushing yards behind Buffalo’s Frank Gore and Washington’s Adrian Peterson. While it appears his age is catching up to him, McCoy still has that twitch and vision to make some electric plays when he has the ball.
60
Patrick Mahomes not only achieved a career-high in rushing yards for a game with 60 yards, but he led all Chiefs in that category on the day. On three separate occasions, Mahomes managed to pick up a first down on a third-down broken play. While he may not have had the best statistical passing game, seeing him run to pick up the first downs in this game and how he moved around in the backfield looked much more like the MVP Mahomes from 2018 for the first time this season.
1
Frank Clark had arguably the best game of his career in Kansas City against the Chargers with an exceptional stat line on the day. Clark had one sack, one tackle for a loss, one pass defended and one forced fumble. Clark also deserves credit for the Nnadi interception as well as the dropped interception by Mathieu in the second half as he hit Rivers’ arm on both plays forcing the ball into the hands of the Chiefs defenders. He came up big in a game where the rest of the defensive line seemed a bit lackluster overall.
