The Kansas City Chiefs ran into the buzz saw of a defense that is the Denver Broncos, and once again, we are talking about KC’s offense being too inconsistent and passive. In a game where the Chiefs needed to win to make a dent in the Broncos’ lead in the AFC West, the offense only scored 19 points.
The Broncos may have the best defense in the league. However, the Chiefs have one of the most brilliant offensive minds ever in head coach Andy Reid, maybe the greatest quarterback of all time, a solid offensive line, and great weapons around the quarterback. So the offense has to be better, especially when you have Patrick Mahomes, a guy who is extremely hard to gameplan for.
“Look, I think changing the looks with respect to [Chiefs QB] Patrick [Mahomes],” Payton told reporters after the game. “Man, he is something. Trying to keep him in the pocket eliminates some of the third-and-20 climbs up, and we give up an interference.
“But rushing him the right way and then playing coverage the right way, it’s tough. Especially when they’re healthy with all their skill players like they were tonight.”
Mahomes is easily the most talented quarterback of all time. He has the resume to be considered the greatest of all time, too. We know that for the last few years, defenses have been selling out to stop Mahomes, especially when it comes to the deep passing game. The Chiefs are seeing a ton of quarters coverage nowadays, which is a defense designed to stop deep passing plays.
Payton and his defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, did a good job of preparing for Mahomes. They limited the number of things he could do and forced him to throw an interception, which changed the game. The Chiefs were in the red zone, and instead of getting seven or even three points, an interception allowed the Broncos to flip it for some points.
Joseph put a ton of pressure on Mahomes inside the pocket, too, making him have to create something out of nothing far more than he would have liked. The Broncos blitzed 14 times in the game. Without blitzing, they had a pressure rate of 21.2%, per Next Gen Stats.
Joseph and the defense caused the Chiefs so many problems. The Chiefs will play a similar defense against the Houston Texans later in the season.
The New York Jets are in a tough spot with running back Breece Hall right now.
Hall was a trade chip at the trade deadline because of his expiring contract, but the Jets opted against moving him as it seems like they’ll attempt to re-sign him in the offseason. But there’s a chance the Jets lose him in free agency and would need to replace him in the upcoming offseason.
FOX Sports’ Rob Rang recently put together a mock draft for the 2026 NFL Draft. In this mock draft, Rang projected the Jets would use the No. 30 pick to select Miami running back Mark Fletcher. The Jets acquired the No. 30 pick from the Indianapolis Colts in the trade for Sauce Gardner.
“While the focus is understandably dedicated to the Jets’ looming decision at quarterback, it seems nearly as likely that the club will also be seeking a new running back, with Breece Hall in the midst of the final year of his rookie contract,” Rang wrote. “Hall is a talented back — and is still just 24 years-old — but the Jets were likely expecting multiple 1,0000-yard rushing seasons from him when they selected him No. 36 overall four years ago, and he has failed to deliver even one of them thus far.
“The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Fletcher is a bigger, burlier back than Hall and might offer more of the grit between the tackles Glenn and Engstrand were accustomed to with the Detroit Lions.”
The Jets will likely make a big effort to retain Hall this offseason. That’s seemingly the reason they opted to hold onto him at the trade deadline.
But if they can’t retain him, drafting a running back like Fletcher would make a lot of sense. Fletcher has a nose for the end zone, as he’s scored 23 touchdowns over three seasons. He’s scored nine times already this year.
He’s averaging over five yards per carry this season. There’s a chance he plays himself into the first round and the Jets could be the perfect fit with their second pick in the first round.