The Kansas City Chiefs proved they still belong among the NFL’s elite, cruising to a 44-21 Week 1 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Offensive spotlight: If Patrick Mahomes misses Tyreek Hill, he certainly didn’t show it against the Cardinals. The former MVP threw for 360 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions on his way to a 144.2 passer rating. That included two big-time throws.
Defensive spotlight: Chris Jones showed why some consider him the best interior defensive lineman outside of Aaron Donald. On 30 pass-rushing snaps, Jones tallied five pressures and a 23.7% pass-rush win rate. He also batted a pass in the process.
Rookie spotlight: A couple of first-round picks debuted for the Chiefs' defense. Trent McDuffie didn’t see any targets across his 21 coverage snaps. Meanwhile, George Karlaftis had three pressures and a quarterback hit across his 22 pass-rushing snaps. Chiefs seventh-rounder Isiah Pacheco scored the first touchdown of his career and had a game-high 62 rushing yards.
Offensive line spotlight: Both offensive lines struggled in pass protection. Chiefs tackle Orlando Brown Jr. allowed seven pressures on his way to an 18.5 pass-blocking grade on first review. Cardinals center Sean Harlow allowed five pressures on 35 pass-blocking snaps.
Betting Summary
| Betting Odds | Closing | Result |
| Spread | KC -6 | KC Covers |
| O/U | 53.5 | Over |
Box Score
Passing
| Kansas City Chiefs | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Patrick Mahomes | 37.9 | 30 / 39 | 360 | 9.2 | 5 | 0 |
| Arizona Cardinals | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Kyler Murray | 20.62 | 22 / 34 | 193 | 5.7 | 2 | 0 |
| Trace McSorley | 2.48 | 2 / 4 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Rushing
| Kansas City Chiefs | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Patrick Mahomes | 37.9 | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 0 | 4 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 22.4 | 7 | 42 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
| Isiah Pacheco | 12.2 | 12 | 62 | 5.2 | 1 | 22 |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 8.1 | 1 | -3 | -3 | 0 | -3 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 7.9 | 4 | 22 | 5.5 | 0 | 18 |
| Arizona Cardinals | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Kyler Murray | 20.62 | 5 | 29 | 5.8 | 0 | 21 |
| James Conner | 16.5 | 10 | 26 | 2.6 | 1 | 8 |
| Eno Benjamin | 9.1 | 4 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 16 |
| Trace McSorley | 2.48 | 3 | 20 | 6.7 | 0 | 14 |
Receiving
| Kansas City Chiefs | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| Travis Kelce | 29.1 | 9 | 8 | 121 | 13.4 | 1 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 22.4 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 2 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 12.9 | 8 | 6 | 79 | 9.9 | 0 |
| Mecole Hardman | 10.6 | 6 | 3 | 16 | 2.7 | 1 |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 8.1 | 4 | 4 | 44 | 11 | 0 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 7.9 | 4 | 3 | 27 | 6.8 | 0 |
| Jody Fortson | 7.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Skyy Moore | 4 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 30 | 0 |
| Noah Gray | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| Justin Watson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona Cardinals | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| James Conner | 16.5 | 6 | 5 | 29 | 4.8 | 0 |
| Marquise Brown | 14.3 | 6 | 4 | 43 | 7.2 | 1 |
| Greg Dortch | 13.3 | 9 | 7 | 63 | 7 | 0 |
| Zach Ertz P | 11.4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 3.5 | 1 |
| Eno Benjamin | 9.1 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 8.2 | 0 |
| A.J. Green | 3.3 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 3.2 | 0 |
| Andy Isabella | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 |
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