The Kansas City Chiefs are a perfect 4-0, Patrick Mahomes is once again attacking defences downfield, and Kenneth Walker III has transformed the identity of Andy Reid's offense. The NFL thought it had finally slayed the monster, only for it to grow another head. For now, this is Walker's team, Walker's offense and Walker's show.
Mahomes certainly won't mind, with the NFL's best quarterback shining once again while benefiting from his running back's remarkable early-season form. Walker was decisive once again on Sunday, rushing for 177 yards and two touchdowns to lift Kansas City to a thrilling 30-27 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The performance also saw him retain his place as the NFL's leading rusher, continuing a remarkable start to his first season with the Chiefs following his move in free agency.
He did that for us today," said Mahomes. Walker's 537 rushing yards are now the most by any running back through the first four games of a season over the last 15 years, surpassing DeMarco Murray's 534-yard mark from 2014, according to Pro Football Focus. It has been a long time since the Chiefs have had such a blue-chip weapon alongside Mahomes.
Since the departure of Tyreek Hill, Kansas City's superstar quarterback has often had to carry an offense that lacked a true game-changing threat. Walker has already shown he can be the missing piece. Walker has blown the door to play-action and field-stretching success off its hinges, giving the Chiefs a new dimension out of the backfield and breathing life into an offense that, incredibly, had become borderline unwatchable at times under Mahomes in recent years.
Patient yet electric, Walker possesses tremendous vision and the ability to make would-be tacklers miss better than almost any back in football. He is precisely the outlet Mahomes and Reid have been craving. One of the highlights came during a mazy second-quarter run.
Walker exploded to his left, shrugged off one tackle attempt, juked inside two more defenders and then powered through another cluster of bodies to pick up a crucial first down. Later, he found a perfectly placed crease and burst through it, racing 76 yards for the longest run by any player in the NFL this season. Walker reached a top speed of 21.21mph, according to Next Gen Stats, with the explosive play setting up Tyquan Thornton's eight-yard touchdown catch to put Kansas City 17-13 ahead early in the fourth quarter.
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