The Chiefs head into their bye week probably wishing they didn’t have the time off right now. The team has a lot of momentum following their 31-10 demolition of San Francisco. KC is now the surprise team in the NFL sitting at 3-0 and they didn’t win this one ugly.
Kansas City dominated the 49’ers in all phases. Defensively they shut down the San Fran running attack and pressured QB Alex Smith into five sacks and an interception. Offensively, Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles each had over 95 yards rushing and combined with Dexter McCluster accounted for 310 yards in offense.
I've got no problem with how the Chiefs used Charles, who had 154 yards in total offense. In fact, you can understand the philosophy of limiting his touches early in the year if possible. I puts less of a strain on the shoulder he had surgery on in the off season and leaves him fresher for the later part of the year when the run game often times becomes more important. As long as they win, it's tough to argue with it.
Matt Cassel threw for 250 yards and three TD’s, his best performance by far this season. Rookie tight end Tony Moeaki made a phenomenal one handed grab for one of the scores. He continues to impress me with his athleticism. With the exception of a missed 38 yard FG by Ryan Succup, not much went wrong in this game for KC whose offense totaled 447 yards.
Head coach Todd Haley was thrilled with the win, but kept an even keel after the game, talking first about being 3-0 in the first quarter of the season, but also about having a week off to work on the things they need to improve on since they’re a team that hasn’t had much success in recent years. It was a response really meant more for his players than the media.
Haley knows 3-0 guarantees a team nothing when it comes to making the playoffs, but it certainly improves the odds. In fact, 75% of teams that start 3-0 make the playoffs. But Kansas City shouldn't start making plans just yet. Last season the Broncos started off 6-2 and led the division by two games, but they didn't make the playoffs. In 2008 Buffalo started 3-0 but they were sitting at home in front of their fires when playoff time came around.
