NFL Locals: Kansas City’s Jaylen Watson handling tough streak of matchups
From staff reports
It’d be hard to pick a more difficult set of matchups for Jaylen Watson to face early in his NFL career.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ seventh-round pick out of Washington State has been tasked with guarding All-Pro wide receivers in each of the past three weeks.
He and the Chiefs handled the first two pairings of Tom Brady and Mike Evans and Derrek Carr and Davante Adams.
Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs got the best of them Sunday.
Allen completed 27 of 40 attempts for 329 yards and three touchdowns during a 24-20 win at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Watson may not have been a part of last year’s AFC Divisional Round classic, but he’s been thrust into the center of this makeshift rivalry.
Watson had six tackles in the game. Starting alongside him was another rookie cornerback – Joshua Williams, a fourth-round pick out of Division II Fayetteville State. Allen marched down the field on a 12-play, 76-yard drive to take the lead with one minute, four seconds remaining. He completed the 14-yard go-ahead touchdown to Dawson Knox.
• Cooper Kupp (EWU) and the Los Angeles Rams snapped their two-game slump with the help of some fortuitous schedule -making, beating the hapless Carolina Panthers 24-10 at SoFi Stadium.
A week removed from firing head coach Matt Rhule, the Rams shut out the Panthers in the second half. Carolina’s only touchdown came via a Matthew Stafford pick-six late in the second quarter.
Kupp caught seven passes for 80 yards and added two carries for 17 yards. He was held out of the end zone for the second time this season, but was happy to see teammate Allen Robinson II catch his first touchdown for the Rams.
“Those are the games that are fun,” said Kupp, who caught seven passes for 80 yards. “You don’t like how things are going offensively in the first half … but you really like having a bunch of guys being able to contribute, and seeing other guys succeed and feeling like it was something we did together as a team.”
• Panthers linebacker Frankie Luvu (WSU) was inactive for the second straight week with a shoulder injury.
• With injuries mounting on the San Francisco 49ers defensive line, Samson Ebukam (EWU) had a career-high eight tackles and made two tackles for loss, but it wasn’t enough to slow down the host Atlanta Falcons, who rolled to a 28-14 win.
Ebukam himself was evaluated twice during the game for lingering leg injuries, but he stayed in the game.
• The New England Patriots appear to have figured their offensive game plan out. It doesn’t seem Kendrick Bourne (EWU) is going to be a big part of it.
Bourne caught one pass for 17 yards in a 38-15 win over the host Cleveland Browns, as he watched four other receivers and two tight ends catch more passes and gain more yards than him.
Rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe completed 24 of 34 attempts for 309 yards and two touchdowns.
• New Orleans Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss’ (Idaho) lone tackle was his first sack of the season, during a 30-26 loss to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals.
• Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson (WSU) had seven tackles in a 19-9 loss to the host Seattle Seahawks.
Thompson ranks second on the team in tackles with 33, behind former Washington Huskies safety Budda Baker’s 39.