The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 5-0 after defeating the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
Kansas City is still unbeaten.
The Chiefs improved to 5-0 with a comfortable 26-13 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football, with Derek Carr's side dropping to 2-3.
With no Rashee Rice or Hollywood Brown, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense still got whatever they wanted against a Saints offense that couldn't.
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The Chiefs will now rest up for their Week 6 bye before a Super Bowl rematch versus the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7, while the Saints are in danger of losing four straight after a hot start.
Let's analyze the game further with winners and losers:
WINNER: Juju Smith-Schuster, Chiefs
No Rice or Brown, no problem. The top receiver on the night was Juju Smith-Schuster, the 27-year-old veteran who had just 17 receiving yards entering this game.
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Smith-Schuster went for seven catches on eight targets for 130 yards, with his longest reception going for 50 yards. The key for him will be to maintain this level of production to keep Kansas City in games, as Mahomes will turn to him more in the absence of multiple key players.
Travis Kelce had his second straight solid outing, catching nine passes on 10 targets for 70 yards. Mahomes did not throw for a passing touchdown as Kareem Hunt and Xavier Worthy rushed for a touchdown each while Harrison Butker made four of five field goals.
LOSER: Chris Olave, Saints
On the opposite end, the Saints' star wideout was nowhere to be seen. The 24-year-old Olave recorded just two catches on four targets for 10 yards, one yard worse than his Week 1 performance against the Carolina Panthers on the same number of catches.
Olave's brother, Josh, took to social media to question the lack of targets directed at the star.
WINNER: Steve Spagnuolo, Chiefs
The underrated aspect of Kansas City remains its defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. New Orleans entered the game with narratives of a hot offense pioneered by offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, but the Chiefs limited the unit to just 220 yards of offense.
Carr, who left the game early with an oblique issue, threw for just 165 yards on 18 of 28 completions to go with two touchdowns and a pick, which occurred on their opening drive. Alvin Kamara couldn't do anything on the ground, rushing for just 26 yards on 11 carries.
Kansas City may be lacking offensive weapons, but Spagnuolo is their best weapon and will keep the side dangerous.
LOSER: Saints' cold run
Much was made of the Saints' scorching start to the season when they dispatched the Panthers and Dallas Cowboys with 40-burgers. But the offensive personnel, mainly Carr, has a history that suggested the start wasn't sustainable.
They've since lost three straight games to the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons and now Kansas City, with some flaws coming to light.
The offense is no longer roaring and the defense will be limited due to their shaky secondary. With Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers up next, New Orleans is in real danger of spiraling into a four-game skid, even if it's at home for Week 6.
WINNER: Big man interceptions
Big man pancakes, big man touchdowns -- how about big man interceptions?
One of the more entertaining plays of the game belonged to Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who intercepted Mahomes in the end zone after a Smith-Schuster bobble. Saunders should've went down for the routine touchback, but there was nothing routine about what followed.
Saunders returned the pick out of the end zone and exhibited impressive speed, returning it for 37 yards.
Saunders, who weighs 324 pounds, reached a top speed of 15.79 mph on the play, making it the third-fastest speed by a ball carrier who weighs over 320 pounds since 2016, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
