4 Kansas City Chiefs players who had underrated performances in Week 2

Two weeks into the 2022 NFL season and the Kansas City Chiefs are 2-0. Their latest win against the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday night wasn’t the prettiest win you’ll see, but they don’t count style points in the NFL.

While there were plenty of clear standout performers that we’ve already discussed, there were also quite a few underrated performances that contributed in a big way to the team’s win over the Chargers. Here’s a look at four of the team’s underrated performances in Week 2:

P Tommy Townsend

AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann

Townsend was a very underrated part of the Chiefs’ ability to stick in the game on Thursday night. He flipped the field position frequently, booting six punts on the night for 333 yards and a 55.5-yard average. He had three punts inside the 20-yard line and only one touchback on the night, which was very close to being down within the 20 too. Townsend’s long punt on the night was 74 yards, which was good for the fourth-longest punt in franchise history.

RG Trey Smith

AP Photo/Ed Zurga

The Chiefs’ offensive line as a whole had a forgettable performance against the Chargers in Week 2, but one player put together a surprisingly good outing. Despite being questionable and considered a game-time decision due to an ankle injury, RG Trey Smith started the game on Thursday night. He paced everyone on the offensive line as a pass-blocker, allowing just one pressure across 36 pass-blocking snaps according to PFF. Not a bad performance on a bad ankle.

WR Mecole Hardman

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I was really impressed with Hardman’s performance against the Chargers. He suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and would end up coming back in the game to catch a key 11-yard pass on third down. He finished Week 2 with the third-most receiving yards on the team (49) and caught three of his four targets.

LB Leo Chenal

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If there is a rookie whose performance flew under the radar, it’s got to be Chenal. The third-round draft pick played 22 defensive snaps in Week 2 against the Chargers. That’s 12 more defensive snaps than he played in Week 1 against the Cardinals. According to PFF, Chenal recorded two tackles, a run stop and a quarterback hit on the night.