There’s a new reason each week to believe these aren’t the same

The Re-Up: old Chiefs It’s our Monday morning afternoon column Womens Kendall Fuller Jersey , The Re-Up. In this column, I’ll write about some deeper thought I had about the last game and finish with some fun stuff to ponder at the article’s end. Check out last week’s column here.Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsYou could be the finest football analyst in the entire world. You could be a statistical nerd, you could be a former player. Hell, you could be a widely-respected name such as Peter King or John Madden.Regardless of who you are, what you have done or what you do, it is a nearly impossible task to correctly evaluate NFL teams prior to the beginning of the regular season. Now, I’ve only been doing this for five seasons (so what do I know, really?), but I have found that in a way, figuring out who teams are feels similar to watching a murder-mystery sitcom. Each game is an episode, and each episode provides clues to an eventual answer—Sunday, in my opinion, gave us two. Going into Sunday (using clues from the season’s first four episodes), I felt sure that if Patrick Mahomes threw more interceptions than touchdowns in any game this season, the Chiefs would lose, their defensive unit just not good enough.Sunday’s effort—one that included 12 passes defensed, 11 quarterback hits, five sacks, four interceptions and one forced fumble and recovery out of the Chiefs defense—proved me very wrong. And that was the first new clue I took away from Sunday.In case you were under a rock Sunday missed the game, it was the Chiefs’ best defensive player of 2018, Dee Ford, who forced Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles to fumble immediately after Mahomes threw his first interception of the season. “It shows what kind of team we are in every phase of the game,” Mahomes said, when asked what it means for Ford to have been making those types of plays all year long. “We can win games with everyone on this team. It’s not just the offense, it’s not just the defense, it’s not just special teams. We’re a unit and we believe that. I’m excited to just come out with a win like that where the defense just stepped up and made a ton of plays and gave us chance to make plays.”Cornerback Orlando Scandrick http://www.kansascitychiefsteamonline.com/dee-ford-jersey , who replaced David Amerson in the final hour of the preseason and has been the media scapegoat for an underwhelming Chiefs secondary, had his best game of the season.He used the game as a means to make a statement, both on the field and off.“We’re physical,” Scandrick said. “I don’t think they’re physical. I think they want to pretend they’re physical when everything is going good. But I think we’re a really physical team. I think we played a physical style of defense.”As you can tell, Scandrick didn’t take too kindly to how the Jaguars chose to play the game. As is obvious by their ejections, neither did Ford nor defensive lineman Chris Jones—two players who are as mellow off the field as you’ll find ejected because of their emotional responses to the Jaguars.With Jacksonville pushing and talking trash, according to the Chiefs, Ford took two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and Jones was ejected for punching an opposing player’s leg during an extra point.Running back Kareem Hunt was also flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for bumping helmets with Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith, who was no longer smiling on Sunday.As expected, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid did not approve of the ejections, but as you can infer from his statement after the game, he welcomed the message of it all with open arms.Read closely.“When two good football teams play each other, you can’t let the emotions get to you,” Reid explained. “[Jacksonville] is a team that is going to come in and be physical and try to push you around in your own place. You can’t do that either. You have to put your foot down and do it the right way. We have to learn from that. You surely cannot be ejected from the game, that’s not smart football. That’s a lesson you can learn. First of all, no one’s going to push us around, anywhere, but also be smart about it.”I have become accustomed to the coach-speak in Reid, so I appreciate those moments when he goes off-script.“No one’s going to push us around, anywhere,” could be as off-script as it gets for Reid, and that was our second clue from Sunday.This idea that the Chiefs have a we-belong-here mentality about them is new and perhaps one they didn’t have last year, when they struggled after beginning the season 5-0, and later blew an 18-point team to what I feel was a worse team in the playoffs.So, to review http://www.kansascitychiefsteamonline.com/dustin-colquitt-jersey , our two new clues from Sunday as to the Chiefs’ identity are:1) A defense that has it in it to will the team to victory, even when Mahomes faces adversity.2) A united front that will show toughness and grit (previously unseen) when necessary.Both items heighten that feeling that maybe this year could truly be different.STAT OF THE GAMEThis week’s stat comes from The Athletic’s Lindsay Jones:In 2018, the Chiefs have outscored opponents 59-9 in the first quarter.That means you should get to the Sunday Night Football watch party early.GIF OF THE GAMETWEET(s) OF THE GAMEFIVE QUOTES1. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the two interceptions not really getting to him: “I think it goes back to college and then to Coach (Andy) Reid. You can’t let that stuff bother you. He says that in football you have to have a short memory, especially when you play the quarterback positon. Like he said, the defense got the ball right back to us and we just tried to go down there and put points on the board.”2. Andy Reid on the Jacksonville Jaguars:“This is a good football team that was here today. There’s a chance we will meet them down the road. They’re physical, they are emotional, they are going to come after you and let you know they’re out there, verbally and physically. They’ve been there, they were in the championship game last year. It’s an important win, but we are talking about the fifth game of the season. There’s a lot of season left. We have an opportunity to play a good football team again this week. You have to go back through the process, learn from your mistakes to get yourself better and that’s what we will do. If you just keep the score zero to zero and keep working hard, you will be okay.” 3. Wide receiver Chris Conley on what the Chiefs’ defensive effort means for the season: “I think that this team, the sky is the limit for this team as evidenced today. I don’t put more pressure on the defense this week than any previous week. I think they just executed and were able to finish as a team. When you do that, I think this team can be pretty dangerous.”4. Center Mitch Morse on what’s different about this year’s 5-0 as compared to last year’s 5-0 team: “I think we definitely have our head on our shoulders. Not that we didn’t last year, but we definitely know a team has a lot of factors. It’s just being efficient, coming to work with a purpose and fighting for each other.”5. Safety Jordan Lucas on his interception and the game as a whole: “It was just a great feeling. My celebration was for my fianc茅 and for my son on the way. If you noticed, I was cradling the ball, gave it a kiss and did my little signature drop. The energy was at an all-time high. If we can play like that week-in, week-out and not ride the waves during the game, we’ve got a chance to do something special here.”THE BIG THOUGHTAs the Chiefs shift gears from the Jaguars to the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football, I wanted to share this quote from Tom Brady from Monday, per Pro Football Talk and WEEI:I think that maybe, just maybe, we have reached the point at 5-0 that the Chiefs, especially when it comes to the offense, are earning complete (also known as “non-Schrager”) national respect and attention. And if they don’t have it yet http://www.kansascitychiefsteamonline.com/ron-parker-jersey , they undoubtedly will with a win on Sunday night.POLL OF THE WEEK This is part one of a three-part weekly film analysis on the performance of Patrick Mahomes.You would not describe Patrick Mahomes’ performance against the Bengals as flashy. There wasn’t a laundry list of throws that make your jaw drop. Not much, if anything, from this week’s Sunday night game is going to end up on the glut of YouTube cut-ups of season highlights that are going to invade the video platform this offseason.Regardless of those facts, the intricacies of Mahomes’ performance should not be understated. There were some very encouraging moments from this week’s game. He may not have flashed the gun this week, but the restraint and control he consistently displayed throughout the game revealed another step in the development of the young signal-caller.We know what he’s capable of on any given play. His continual narrowing of the gaps in his game did not stop, even though the highlight real is pretty barren. The re-watch of this showed that Mahomes still checked a few more boxes. There’s one glaring issue we need to discuss, but more on that in a minute.Something goodThe patience by Mahomes here made a world of difference.The Chiefs have used similar play-action rolls this season, especially on third-and-short situations to high levels of success. In most cases, the Chiefs have hit Hunt out of the action, but with Hardy Nickerson Jr. in coverage, Mahomes doesn’t want to hit him when he normally does.This is where patience comes in for Mahomes. He threatens Nickerson with his legs, forcing him to chop his feet at the potential that the quarterback will cut inside him to try and score. Mahomes waited on the last possible moment to throw the ball. That one moment created enough space for Hunt to catch a high throw from Mahomes and finish at the goal line for a touchdown. That extra patience made a world of difference on this play.Even though there wasn’t flashy moments, the arm talent still came in handy.The Chiefs dial up a play-action boot shot play. Mahomes wants to hit Tyreek Hill on the corner post here, but when he sets up to throw, the safety is still over the top of him. Not wanting to take the shot, Mahomes elects to hit Travis Kelce on the deep crosser. He actually helps create the window. Mahomes stops and looks back into the middle of the field and sells it with eyes and shoulders. Linebacker Jordan Evans actually slows down for a second before Mahomes whips his eyes and shoulders back to Kelce with a strike. Because Evans gives up, he can’t get any more underneath the throw from Mahomes. Evans extends to contest, but to no avail. The ball from Mahomes is impressive. The velocity to beat cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick before he can break up the play. Outstanding ball.Mahomes was able to find a touchdown on a broken play this week.It sounded like he was probably going to hand that ball off if the snap wasn’t bad. Nevertheless, being able to think quick enough to find Hill off the broken play was a nice job by him.Something badThis might be the worst of the bad.This play seems so uncharacteristic for someone who has been so good out of structure this season. We’ve got videos of young Mahomes hitting game-winning three-quarter court heaves. He was drafted in multiple sports. It seemed like there was nothing the kid couldn’t do. Then the glass shattered.Mahomes looks lost from the start. If he were in church, he would be one word behind the rest of congregation in song. Has our franchise quarterback ever been to a wedding reception? This is the first time Mahomes has looked robotic on the football field.The freestyle move at the end as everyone is running off the field made me laugh no less than 18 times. He pulled out the “there’s a spider at my feet” to try and make up for the lack of synchronization. It missed like Andy Dalton to anyone not named AJ Green. I could not stop watching (laughing at) this masterpiece. The rest of the Arrowhead Pride Tailgate and post-game show can attest.The end zone view does him no favors.Mahomes probably wants more side-to-side motion here in his hips. He looks very rigid and uncomfortable. The hands are struggling to sync up with the rest of his body. You can tell he’s thinking out there, not uncommon for a rookie. I guess it runs in the species.Quarterback anecdoteEvery week, I add a quick note about something I’ve picked up about the quarterback position through my time learning and playing the game.Teams try to recreate bad snaps to help prepare for the response to it. One drill I’ve seen is a bad snap drill where the quarterback is hot (forced to throw quick due to the protection rules not accounting for a free rusher). In that kind of situation, the throw isn’t about laces or the perfect set up to deliver a ball, but getting it out. Drills like that can help you prepare to respond in a situation like Mahomes faced on that touchdown pass to Hill.