Kenneth Walker had a big hand in the Chiefs’ five-game winning streak to open the season and he had a big hand in ending their two-game losing streak on Sunday.
Walker caught a pair of touchdown passes from Patrick Mahomes in the first half of the game and he ran for another score in the second half of Kansas City’s 35-12 home win over the Jets. The victory moves the Chiefs to 6-2 on the season and Walker is now tied with Jahmyr Gibbs for the league lead with 11 total touchdowns on the season.
It’s the fifth multi-touchdown game of Walker’s first season with the Chiefs and the Chiefs have won all of those games. He did not score in either of their losses, so his importance to the offense probably can’t be overstated.
Walker ran 18 times for 102 yards and his four catches picked up 41 yards, which gave him more yards from scrimmage on Sunday than he managed in either of the Chiefs’ two losses.
The Chiefs got a scare just before halftime when Patrick Mahomes hurt his right elbow on a sack by Jets first-rounder David Bailey. The Chiefs lost a fumble on the play, but Mahomes was able to remain in the game and no negative impact on his game was visible over the second half. Mahomes finished 23-of-31 for 242 yards and four of those completions went to Travis Kelce for 72 yards. Kelce also had a one-yard rushing touchdown.
Mahomes and Kelce have been joined on the top line of Chiefs stars by defensive tackle Chris Jones for many years and Jones chipped in a pair of sacks of Jets quarterback Geno Smith during the win. George Karlaftis had a pair of them as well and the Chiefs will try to keep things firing on all cylinders in Atlanta next Sunday.
One change they could make is with kicker Harrison Butker. He missed another field goal and Justin Tucker is on the practice squad, so the team could opt for a new kicker against the Falcons.
Smith was sacked five times . The Jets actually controlled much of the first half and had chances to put points on the board, but had to settle for five field goal tries. Jason Sanders made four of those kicks, but the Jets needed touchdowns that never came.
They will host the Bills next Sunday and the 2-7 team figures to hear a lot more chatter about Aaron Glenn’s job security in the wake of their fourth straight loss. Five of their first six losses were one-score games, but getting outscored 21-0 in the second half on Sunday doesn’t make much of a case for Glenn having the team on the right path.