Mahomes vs. Jackson III Epitomizes Must-See Football

Fear is my first feeling as a fan envisioning tonight's game. As a fan, I fear the uniquely skilled QB facing off against our Kansas City Chiefs. I fear Lamar's leg's and their ability to hurt KC's recently iffy rushing defense. I fear how drastically he improved last season, and I fear that he looks even better right now. I also fear the studly, proven Baltimore defense. What I do not fear is our QB's ability to step up to a challenge of this magnitude. He's done it before, and he'll do it again. However, how many times can Patrick Mahomes pull it off against another potential face of the sport in Lamar Jackson?

Lamar vs. Mahomes epitomizes a must-see matchup. Comparing the two is as inevitable as it is entertaining. Both played in 33 games prior to tonight's face-off. My guy Mahomes has a remarkable 89/18 TD/interception ratio. Lamar's at 83/9. Both claimed their franchise's first MVP award in their second season of a potentially legendary career. Patrick's piled up 9925 passing yards, while Lamar's racked up 2000 rushing yards. That's an average of more than 300 passing yards per game for Patrick Mahomes and over 60 yards per game via Lamar's legs.

When facing the Chiefs, Lamar ran for 67 and 46 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Mahomes finished each meeting with over 370 passing yards. Expect both men to step up in tonight's spotlight yet again. This incites those wonderful main-event prize fight feelings in me, and I can only hope this game lives up to the hype. If the Chiefs' D doesn't show up though, we're in for a shootout. Baltimore's defense and effective rushing attack would surely give them the advantage in such a game if not for Patrick. He's got Lamar's number, and I cannot predict that to change tonight. I'll pick our Chiefs in a back-and-forth 34-31 game that reminds everyone watching of which two teams are the cream of the crop in this conference.

Can Chargers Challenge Chiefs for Divisional Dominance?

Your Kansas City Chiefs achieved victory last Sunday when they soundly defeated the Houston Texans, but does today offer a tougher challenge? The Los Angeles Chargers escaped Week 1 with a 16-13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were, uhh, not good last year, and are expected to be, uhh, not quite exactly as good as your Chiefs will be this year. Protecting Patrick Mahomes from the likes of Melvin Ingram and Joey Bosa will be important for the Chiefs today, since limiting the record-breaking KC offense is a key first step to any effective Chargers game-plan. Bosa recorded one of L.A's three sacks last week, but KC's offensive line is objectively a cut above the group defending Joe Burrow in Cincy.

Don't be shocked or scared if Tyrod Taylor's comfort level as a Charger grows and he looks good against a Chiefs defense with a seriously depleted secondary. Second-year defensive back Rashaud Fenton and rookie L'Jarius Sneed will presumably start today's game due to the absences of Bashaud Breeland and Charvarius Ward. That would worry me more if KC's depth chart didn't list the best duo of safeties in perhaps the entire league. Let's remember how lucky we are as Chiefs fans that the tandem of Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill anchors this otherwise iffy secondary.

KC's defense must also make due without Alex Okafor, but the Chargers enter today's game without trustworthy veteran center Mike Pouncey. The sensational and freshly-paid Chris Jones could cause chaos in the middle of the field when he lines up against Dan Feeney, a fourth-year lineman who usually plays guard and usually doesn't sport such regrettable facial hair. The Chiefs' D is better than the Bengals' defense that held L.A to 16 points and Tyrod Taylor to 16 completions in 30 attempts for 208 passing yards. I like Tyrod, and he still has a chance to have a better year than his overrated predecessor Philip Rivers, but L.A doesn't have enough firepower on either side of the ball to keep up with KC this year. I foresee the Chiefs cruising to a comfortable 38-17 victory.

A New Chapter of Our Chiefs Chasing History Starts Now

We are all part of a unique and legendary moment in Kansas City football history, Chiefs Kingdom. The freshly-paid prince of this city and this sport in general returns with the vast majority of his Super Bowl-winning supporting cast for another chance to achieve greatness of the grandest scale this sport can provide. You know the hashtags. You've heard the word "dynasty" passed casually around town, with or without the important word "potential" in front of it. We're just moments away from beginning Chapter 2 in the tale of our team working towards historic greatness. Maybe it's Chapter 3 or 4, depending on where you want to start. We can't get ahead of ourselves, though. Do the Houston Texans have any chance of screwing up this early chapter in this amazing story?

It's not easy to predict how successful the 2020 Texans can be. Brandin Cooks will be limited today, or perhaps I should say more limited than the rest of these newly acquired Texans receivers and backs who have negligible experience with this offensive scheme. I'm hesitant to believe that losing DeAndre Hopkins and picking up other, less-talented pieces will make Houston's offense better.

New acquisitions for Houston's defense such as PJ Hall and Ross Blacklock may step up and make themselves an unexpected problem for KC's offensive line, especially with Laurent Duvernay-Tardif away being a real-life hero and medical science polymath. The also-freshly-paid Deshaun Watson may use his new variety of receivers to poke holes in a Chiefs secondary with plenty of room for improvement. A certain legendary playoff comeback for our Chiefs surely gave Houston enough fuel to cook up a whole bag of chips to put on their shoulder tonight, but I don't think that will be enough to overcome KC.

Patrick Mahomes is still the most valuable athlete in this and perhaps all sports, and he's got all his same weapons from a squad that just became champs. I think I'd be confident in KC winning this game even if Mahomes didn't have a first-round pick stud in Clyde Edwards-Helaire to incorporate into this legendary offense. Unless I missed something, Houston didn't do much to improve a secondary that gave up the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL last season. 

The absence of Breeland coinciding with the return of impressive second-year safety Juan Thornhill indicates that perhaps the best safety tandem in football will provide support for an otherwise exploitable core of cornerbacks. Houston's points-per-game average ranked 14th in the league last season. They only outscored KC's 28.2-point average six times in the regular season. I think Chiefs Kingdom will enjoy a stylish 34-24 victory tonight. Enjoy the return of your defending champions.