Chiefs reach rare space where ‘imperfection is what people squint at’

Scott Van Pelt led off ESPN’s Monday Night Postgame with an interesting thought on the unblemished Chiefs after their 26-13 win over New Orleans at Arrowhead Stadium.

“They’re 5-0 and I feel like they’ve reached that incredibly rare space in sports where they’re perfect and yet their imperfection is what people squint at,” Van Pelt said.

In their first full game without leading receiver Rashee Rice, who will undergo surgery Tuesday, the Chiefs used a steady combination of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and retread contributors Kareem Hunt and JuJu Smith-Schuster to slowly pull away from New Orleans (2-3).

After the game, Mahomes said that while he was satisfied with the way Kansas City moved the ball against a good Saints defense, he reminded people that the Chiefs have a good defense, too.

“They’ve been great for two years now,” said Mahomes, referring to a defense that limited New Orleans to just 220 total yards. “People are going to recognize them at some point but we’ll keep winning until they do.”

And even after they do, the Chiefs will likely still be winning, thanks to future Hall of Famer Andy Reid.

“They have a head coach that’s very creative and has an ability to cover for what they don’t have,” said Joe Buck after calling the game on Monday Night Football. “They’ve done an amazing job of not only creating through the draft and developing here, but bringing guys back who’ve been here before that seem to fit right back in here like they never left.”

One of those guys, Hunt, had 102 yards on 27 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run to put Kansas City on the board in the first quarter. Initially drafted by Kansas City in 2017, Hunt spent more than five years with the Browns until coming back to Kansas City on Sept. 18 following the loss of Isiah Pacheco.

Smith-Schuster, meanwhile, caught seven passes for 130 yards, including the longest play of the night, a 50-yard reception early in the fourth quarter that set up Kelce’s razzle-dazzle touchdown pitch to Xavier Worthy and gave the Chiefs a 23-13 lead. Smith-Schuster had signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Chiefs in 2022 and won a Super Bowl ring before spending 2023 with New England. The Chiefs re-signed the receiver at the end of the preseason this past August.

“So, they’re thin on the outside; there’s no denying that,” Buck added. “But they still have creative ways to get the ball down the field. They showed it tonight and, like Patrick just said, their defense deserves credit for being really, really good, and coordinated by a guy who’s done a heck of a job his whole career.”

Steve Spagnuolo is that coordinator, now in his sixth year at the reins of the Chiefs’ defense. Over his first five seasons, Kansas City went to four Super Bowls and won three. Prior to that, Spagnuolo helped the Giants to a Super Bowl win in 2007. Since the beginning of last season, Kansas City has surrendered the fewest points in the NFL, 379.

The Chiefs get a Week 6 bye before road trips to San Francisco and Las Vegas in Weeks 7-8.