How NFL Teams Gained Ground on Chiefs Sunday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers weren’t the only teams to capitalize on the Chiefs’ bye over the weekend.

While each of those AFC West teams gained a half-game on Kansas City in the division standings – both registered primetime wins – a pair of NFL players joined two prominent players in league history.

Jared Goff avenges playoff loss

Detroit quarterback Jared Goff led the Lions to a fiery 44-22 win at Washington on Sunday. He completed 25 of 33 attempts for 320 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

In the process, Goff became the third player ever to reach 45 games with at least 300 passing yards in his first 10 seasons. Only two others had done it prior to Sunday: Matt Ryan also had 45 such games, reaching the mark in his 10th season.

But Patrick Mahomes has 49 games of at least 300 yards – and he’s only in his ninth season. Plus, Mahomes didn’t even play as a 2017 rookie until the season finale, making his first NFL start in Denver.

Goff on Sunday also notched his 27th career game with three-or-more touchdown passes and no interceptions. That’s No. 4 on the all-time list among players in their first 10 career seasons. Only Aaron Rodgers (30), Russell Wilson (29) and Mahomes – who enters this week with 28 such games, in his ninth season – have more than Goff over their first 10 years.

Remember Dante Hall?

Five days after making a pair of blockbuster deals at the trade deadline, one of which will affect the Chiefs, the Jets registered a 27-20 win over Cleveland on Sunday.

And running back Kene Nwangwu helped them get it, returning a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

Nwangwu became the fourth NFL player with a kickoff-return touchdown in four of his first five seasons, joining former Browns return man Josh Cribbs (five seasons), Percy Harvin (four) and Hall of Famer Bobby Mitchell (four).

nnangw — Nov 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets running back Kene Nwangwu (34) scores a first quarter touchdown on a kickoff return against Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns cornerback Tre Avery (28) and the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

The Jets’ return man also etched his name next to former Chiefs sparkplug Dante Hall. Nwangwu became the sixth player in league annals with five kick-return touchdowns of 95-plus yards, joining Cordarrelle Patterson (eight), Cribbs (five), Hall (five), Leon Washington (five) and Abe Woodson (five).

Hall played his first seven seasons (2000-06) in Kansas City before finishing his career across the state with the St. Louis Rams. The Chiefs’ fifth-round selection (153rd overall) in the 2000 draft out of Texas A&M, Hall returned six kickoffs and five punts for touchdowns during his Kansas City tenure.

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