The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Yahoo’s fantasy football newsletter, Get to the Points! If you like what you see, you can subscribe for free here.
Everyone has a favorite old sweatshirt, or a movie they’ve seen a dozen times. Maybe it’s a recipe for comfort food, or a greatest hits playlist.
The 2024 Kansas City Chiefs call that their offense. Forget fancy new menu items, give us Mac and Cheese.
It was a death by 1,000 cuts in Monday’s 26-13 win over the Saints, with Kansas City handling the ball 78 times and outscoring the visitors 460-220. The Chiefs collected 28 first downs and should have scored more points – settling for five field goal attempts (missing one), and there was an interception on the goal line.
Here’s what you need to know:
Old favorites carry the Chiefs: Kareem Hunt controlled the backfield and rolled for 117 yards and a score on 28 touches (Carson Steele had just five chances). Hunt rated RB4 for the week. And 18 of 34 pass targets were directed to Juju Smith-Schuster (7-130-0, WR14) and Travis Kelce (7-90-0, TE7). Juju galloped around freely most of the night (partly by scheming, partly by accidents in cover), and Kelce’s target stock has exploded since the Rashee Rice injury. Xavier Worthy was limited to seven chances; one of which was a short, rushing touchdown.
Smith-Schuster (listed in 7% of Yahoo leagues) quickly regained Circle of Trust privileges with a blow-up play and is a priority addition for Week 6.
Mahomes is still not home: Maybe Patrick Mahomes will peak after a Week 6 bye, but the league’s signature player has been a fantasy frustration in 2024. He completed QB19 this week and hasn’t been better than QB13 all season. His last top-10 fantasy finish came from Thanksgiving week last year. Remember, our game is about numbers, not names.
Saints hold their breath: Derek Carr suffered an oblique injury in the defeat and will undergo an MRI. Jake Haener played late in Monday’s game and Spencer Rattler is also on the roster. Carr has never been a fantasy fan, but this entire offense takes a hit if he misses time.
Who’s No. 1 in New Orleans? I understand all the love from Chris Olave, a dreamy route runner and a great true player. But the offense continues to click with Rashid Shaheed (4-86-1, WR13), while Olave is an afterthought (2-10-0, four goals). For the year, Shaheed is WR15, Olave WR33 – Olave still has four catches, but Shaheed leads in targets, yards and touchdowns. Time to flip them in the rankings? The Saints next host Tampa Bay as questions about their QB situation loom.
