Mahomes could make more history when Chiefs square off against Jets in Sunday night showdown

Updated Sep. 29, 2023 4:13 p.m. ET

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY (2-1) at NEW YORK JETS (1-2)

Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EDT, NBC

OPENING LINE: Chiefs by 9 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.

AGAINST THE SPREAD: Chiefs 2-1; Jets 1-2.

SERIES RECORD: Chiefs lead 20-19-1.

LAST MEETING: Chiefs beat Jets 35-9 on Nov. 1, 2020, in Kansas City, Missouri.

LAST WEEK: Chiefs beat Bears 41-10; Jets lost to Patriots 15-10.

CHIEFS OFFENSE: OVERALL (5), RUSH (10), PASS (5), SCORING (9).

CHIEFS DEFENSE: OVERALL (6), RUSH (11), PASS (6), SCORING (4).

JETS OFFENSE: OVERALL (32), RUSH (22), PASS (32), SCORING (32)

JETS DEFENSE: OVERALL (20), RUSH (23), PASS (16), SCORING (12)

TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Chiefs minus-2; Jets minus-1.

CHIEFS PLAYER TO WATCH: TE Travis Kelce. Taylor Swift is watching him, so why shouldn’t everyone else? He has 71 touchdown receptions, which is five behind Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez for the franchise record. Kelce and Patrick Mahomes have connected 48 times for touchdowns, including once last week against Chicago. Three more and they will tie Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham for the third most for a QB-TE combo in NFL history.

JETS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Zach Wilson. It has gotten ugly (again) for the 2021 No. 2 overall draft pick. Struggling in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers, Wilson has drawn ire of frustrated fans — including Hall of Famer Joe Namath — who are clamoring for a quarterback change. New York signed veteran Trevor Siemian to its practice squad and he'll be inactive this week. But if Wilson can't improve on his production in a hurry, fans will be clamoring for Siemian moving forward.

KEY MATCHUP: Chiefs O-line vs. Jets D-line. Mahomes has been getting excellent blocking in front of him, having been pressured on only 25.4% of his drop-backs this season — which is a career low. Center Creed Humphrey and left guard Joe Thuney allowed no pressures on their 41 pass-blocking snaps against Chicago. The Jets were expected to have a strong pass rush this season and are putting pressure on quarterbacks, but have just six sacks through three games and Quinnen Williams is looking for his first after a career-high 12 last season.

KEY INJURIES: Mahomes tweaked his ankle last week against Chicago, but is fine and fully practiced all week. ... DT Chris Jones was limited during the week with a groin ailment, but was slated to play. ... LB Nick Bolton was ruled out for the second straight game with a sprained ankle. ... Jets S Tony Adams (hamstring) and backup OL Wes Schweitzer (concussion) will sit out again this week after missing last week's game.

SERIES NOTES: The Chiefs have won three of the past four meetings. ... The teams have met twice in the postseason: a win by the Chiefs in the 1969 divisional round; and a victory by the Jets in the 1986 wild-card round. ... The Jets are 12-8-1 at home — including the two postseason matchups — against the Chiefs. ... Kansas City is looking to snap a four-game road skid against the Jets.

STATS AND STUFF: The game marks the first for Mahomes at MetLife Stadium. ... Andy Reid is 3-1 as coach of the Chiefs against the Jets, including 1-0 with Mahomes as his quarterback. ... The Jets are playing on Sunday night for the first time since losing 37-16 to New England in Week 10 of the 2011 season. ... Reid won his 271st game last week, passing Tom Landry for fourth on the NFL's career list. ... Mahomes needs 23 yards rushing to break the Chiefs’ career mark for a quarterback held by Alex Smith (1,672). ... Mahomes has 199 TD passes. He could reach 200 in his 84th game Sunday night, five faster than Dan Marino’s NFL record. ... Mahomes surpassed 25,000 yards passing last week against the Bears. He did it in 83 games, seven faster than Matthew Stafford’s record. ... Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon had two TD receptions last week against the Bears. He has 11 TD catches in 33 games for Kansas City, the fourth most by a running back in club history. ... Kelce has caught a pass in 145 consecutive games, five shy of Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome for the second-longest streak among tight ends. ... Humphrey is expected to start his 37th straight game since he was drafted. That’s the fifth-longest streak to start a career in club history. ... Kansas City allowed 203 yards last week against Chicago. It was the fifth-fewest yards since Reid took over before the 2013 season. ... Jones has 2 1/2 sacks in the two games since ending his holdout. ... The Jets went 1 for 10 on third down against Dallas in Week 2 and 2 for 14 last Sunday against New England. For the season, they’re 8 for 37 with a 22% conversion rate ranking last in the NFL. ... New York had just 12 first downs and averaged a measly 2.8 yards per play in the loss to the Patriots. ... Wilson's 57.0 quarterback rating ranks last in the NFL. Last season, he became the first player since the 1970 merger to finish last in that category two years in a row, and is on pace for a third straight. ... RB Breece Hall set the franchise record for the most yards per carry through a player’s first 10 games (minimum 50 carries) with 5.8. The previous best was Al Dorow in 1960, when he averaged 5.56 yards per carry for the then-NY Titans. ... WR Garrett Wilson has 1,268 yards receiving in 20 games, the fewest to reach 1,200 yards receiving in Jets history. ... FB Nick Bawden scored his first NFL touchdown on his first NFL carry last week. Bawden, who switched from QB to FB at San Diego State, has five catches in 22 games — but his 1-yard TD was the first time he carried the ball on a run. ... LG Laken Tomlinson made his 100th consecutive regular-season start last Sunday. The streak began in Week 2 of the 2017 season. He’s one of five active players with at least 100 straight starts. ... Former Jets star DL Joe Klecko will receive his Pro Football Hall of Fame Ring of Excellence during a halftime ceremony. Klecko will also serve as the Jets’ honorary captain.

FANTASY TIP: Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco had a season-high 78 yards from scrimmage last week and has led Kansas City's backfield in touches in each of the first three games. He could see increased carries if this one gets out of hand in the Chiefs' favor early.

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