The Kansas City Chiefs turned back the clock with two former stars again coming to the fore as they beat the New Orleans Stadium 26-13 on Monday Night Football.
Injuries to Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown and Isiah Pacheco meant Chiefs coach Andy Reid had to reshape his offense and he turned to familiar faces to fill the voids.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and running back Kareem Hunt – neither of whom were with the franchise in training camp – were the stars of Monday night’s win at Arrowhead Stadium.
Made it to the Bye Week undefeated 😤 pic.twitter.com/mmGXudi2Dd
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 8, 2024
Smith-Schuster, whose lone season with Kansas City was in 2022 when he helped them win the Super Bowl, took seven catches for 130 yards while Hunt, who starred as a rookie before being released in 2018 following a domestic violence incident, rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown.
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes said: “It’s a credit to not only the guys and how hard they work, but coach [Andy] Reid and just knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions.
“Kareem just runs extremely hard. He gets every yard out there, catches the ball, does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win.
“[Smith-Schuster] fits in well in this offense and so he did a great job today. It was cool to get those guys going.”
Smith-Schuster returns to prominence
Smith-Schuster was brought in to replace Brown but the injury to Rice means he has leapt to the front of the receiving corps.
“I was OK with [a lesser role],” Smith-Schuster said. “I was OK just being the leader in the room. I was OK with just being the ‘rah’ guy.
“But I think that when the opportunity presents itself, I wanted to step up. I love the adversity. I love being down, I love the doubts. I’ve always bet on myself. I came here on a one year deal betting on myself [in 2022] and it worked out for me. So coming back here was kind of like a no-brainer.”
The win saw the Chiefs head into their bye week as one of only two teams in the NFL with a perfect record after five weeks. Their next game is on October 20 at the San Francisco 49ers in a repeat of Super Bowl LVIII.
