The Kansas City Chiefs are the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFL!The Chiefs beat powerful Washington Redskins in a 29:20 final at the heart of the match – and the visitors had a great chance to win the game.In the end, however, it was Alex Smith and rookie kicker Harrison Butker who owned the game winning drive.
It didn’t get off to a good start for the Chiefs: Kirk Cousins (14/24,220 YDS, 2 TD) started impressively and brought Washington through a long touchdown-pass to Terrelle Pryor as well as a long field goal drive, when the Defense finally stopped late, quickly into the front line – while Butker promptly missed his first kick just before the halftime break.Kansas City was shaky on both sides of the ball.
The Chiefs needed some time before they woke up, also because Washington’s pass rush was able to put pressure on Alex Smith (27/37,293 YDS, TD) as in the previous week.But the hosts got help from the Redskins, who allowed themselves too many penalties over the whole game: Five penalties alone resulted in first downs for Kansas City.
Over the course of the second quarter, Smith was able to improve his usual short pass game, with Tight End Travis Kelce becoming an increasingly important factor.And Butker showed after his misfire that he had his nerves under control: After Washington’s defense withstood the two long Chiefs drives, the rookie transformed the next two kicks, but his big hour was only to hit the end of it.
When the Redskins were able to equalize after a good drive only by field goal, Smith got the ball back with just one minute and two timeouts.The Chiefs marched to Field Goal range – and Butker turned the 43-yard game winner into a game winner.It only became clear because the KC-Defense undercut the cross pass attempts of the guests during the last play of the game and Justin Houston carried the ball back to the touchdown.
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Additionally bitter for the Redskins: Coach Jay Gruden confirmed already during the game that Cornerback Josh Norman – who was injured and had to leave the team – is out for several weeks due to a rib injury.Rob Kelley (ankles) was also injured during the match.
Kansas City Chiefs (4-0) – Washington Redskins (2-2)29:20 (0:10,7:0,10:7,12:3) BOXSCORE
Against Oakland last week, Washington’s offensive line was the dominant factor, primarily in pass protection, but also the run game worked.There was no sign of this in Kansas City: Washington’s top rusher was Kirk Cousins (7 ATT, 38 YDS), who kept Drives alive with scrambles several times in the final phase.None of the three running backs were more than 27 rushing yards, which made Washington’s offense extremely one-dimensional.In the Pass-Defense it looked different, of the five starting lines of the Redskins, no one allowed a bag and no one allowed a QB hit.KC only managed a hurry here.
Washington was so close!Cousins’ Scrambles kept the final drive to Kansas City’s Field Goal alive, with guests knocking on the final zone 50 seconds to go.Third Down, a perfect passport from cousins to the end zone and Doctson has the egg in both hands!But as he went down, Washington’s receiver lost control of the ball.So Washington had to kick the field goal and in return it was Smith who put down the game winning drive in the final seconds.
Smith is playing an outstanding season, and against a strong defense, he continued to do so in the decisive moments on Monday evening – especially with a great pass after rollout, which made the final field goal possible.Smith didn’t make any mistakes apart from a risky pass in principle, but against Pressure he scored an outstanding ten out of 13 passes for 130 yards.Looking at the season, he now stands with a total of eight touchdowns, 76 percent of the passes and zero interceptions.
Many people saw Samaje Perine before the season as a sleeper who could snatch the obscure Redskins backfield and quickly emerge as a starter.The impressions were quite different – and the game against the Chiefs was probably his weakest. 27 rushing yards, no run over six yards and a more than unhappy looking fumble at a toss play at the beginning of the third quarter, which might have had far-reaching effects.2nd&5 became 3rd&12 and Washington puntete.This was followed by an 8-minute drive from the Chiefs with a field goal at the end.