to shareholders on a quarterly basis. They tend to rise when expectations of future earnings rise and fall when expectations fall. Just meeting expectations is sometimes not enough to push prices upward Youth Chris Conley Jersey , but any letdown can send prices plunging. For the Chiefs, expectations have been ratcheting upward all season. Beating a team like the Browns doesn’t necessarily push their stock higher, but losing to them would certainly hurt it. This Chiefs team continues to perform at a high level, especially on offense. Mahomes setting records and throwing for over 300 yards is no longer a surprise, it’s the expectation. Todd Haley, when he coached here, famously held the Chiefs accountable in quarters of each season. If they can finish each quarter 3-1 or 4-0 as they’ve done so far, they’ll likely win the division and be in the driver’s seat of the AFC. This week was the start of the third quarter, and Kansas City is now 1-0 after defeating the team that just fired Haley. We’ve come to expect offensive production and wins at this point, and Mahomes continues to deliver both. Stock UPPhoto by Joe Sargent/Getty ImagesKendall Fuller: Fuller is certainly living up to expectations after a couple of tremendous performances of late. The Chiefs’ best corner is contributing in coverage, making plays on the ball and tackling in the open field. Maybe Andy Reid is right: Fuller (along with the rest of the defense) will continue to improve on the field as they get on the same page. Fuller clearly is more comfortable in recent weeks, and we should be bullish on No. 23 and the Chiefs’ defensive trend.Travis Kelce: Don’t miss this piece from our own Matt Lane on the best tight end in the NFL. I think we’ve been spoiled by the level at which Kelce plays. He consistently delivers in ways no other player at his position can. We’ve come to expect a tight end that can run routes like an elite wide receiver, can catch the ball in traffic and make big plays in clutch situations. Kelce is making it look easy and routine, but it most certainly isn’t, at least not for the rest of the league.Breeland Speaks: No, he hasn’t “arrived” yet. Speaks still has plenty of work to do before he’s the type of player that other teams have to game-plan around. That said, it feels like he’s consistently trending up and showing the type of relentless effort that you want to see. Speaks is making plays in the backfield, with a couple more tackles for loss this week, and has a chance to put together a solid rookie campaign.Photo by Jason Hanna/Getty ImagesDaniel Sorensen: As the first Chief to return from IR this season, Sorensen will step into a secondary that needs his help. Sorensen has the respect of teammates and coaches and the experience to reduce mistakes that have plagued other Chiefs safeties in 2018. Sorensen has been a good blitzing safety and has had a knack for turnovers in the past. Expectations for Sorensen’s return may be ratcheting higher than they logically should be. We’ll see if he’s able to deliver in the third quarter and beyond.Patrick Mahomes: Apparently, the street now expects 300 yards and 3 touchdowns each week from Mahomes because that’s just what he does. What was impressive this week is the fact that five Chiefs skill players had more than 50 yards receiving this week. He’s spreading the ball around and manipulating defenses like a much more experienced signal caller. Kareem Hunt: Kareem Hunt is coming off of his most dominant statistical performance of the season, launching himself back into the conversation of the NFL’s top backs. But, for those of us who were watching, he’s been there all along. We’re running out of superlatives for Hunt, but this stat was another eye-opener:The Chiefs rushing offense: Unfortunately for opposing defenses, it doesn’t get that much easier if someone other than Hunt carries the ball. Spencer Ware has earned more touches, after being the pass-protecting back for much of the first half season, including a huge 25-yard catch and run to move the chains this week. With 139 yards on 5.8 yards per carry this week, 198 yards on 6.8 yards per carry last week, all of a sudden, the offense that features Mahomes highlights every week can also get it done on the ground. The Chiefs feature two punishing backs that can do it all, and two receivers in Hill and Watkins that are a threat on end-arounds and other misdirection plays. Not to mention Andy Reid’s elite screen game that’s a natural extension of the run game. Mahomes gets the headlines, but the ground game is a significant part of the story.The Chiefs special teams: An overlooked part of the Chiefs success this year is the play of Dave Toub’s group. A blocked punt by Damien Williams this week was the flashy play, but these guys have been winning the field position battle all season. According to Football Outsiders, the Chiefs boast the best special teams unit in the league, and it’s not particularly close. With the league’s best passing offense, league’s best special teams unit and an improving defense and running game, this team is balanced and difficult to beat, regardless of what Rodney Harrison thinks.Others trending in a bullish direction: Dorian O’Daniel, Eric Murray, Chris Jones, Steven Nelson, Dee Ford, former Browns/current Chiefs on the offensive lineStock DOWNDenny Medley-USA TODAY SportsTanoh Kpassagnon: Even with Justin Houston out White Terrance Smith Jersey , Kpassagnon didn’t see significant snaps this week (Speaks outsnapped him, 65-13). He’s got four tackles and no sacks this season. He looked like a breakout candidate this preseason and even made the stock UP list last week. But, it’s possible that we overreacted to one huge play against Denver. Considering Ford’s stellar season and the development of Speaks, Kpassagnon’s window for becoming a full-time player might be closing with Houston returning.Bob Sutton: It might seem counterintuitive that Sutton makes this list again, even when the defense is showing signs of life. They are now top five in sacks, top 10 in interceptions and are among the best in the league on third down. But, some of the personnel decisions are still puzzling. He put the brakes on the #LucasLocomotive (Jordan Lucas was only on the field for 12 defensive snaps this week) and continued to roll with Ron Parker despite what seems to be obvious breakdowns. The Chiefs have struggled this season with some deficiencies that ultimately are a blueprint for the league to exploit. Can Sutton make adjustments in personnel and tendencies before it costs the team wins?Eric Berry: The heart and soul of this team might still be coming in like a super hero to help with a playoff run, but I’m done entertaining that idea. Listen, nobody is a bigger fan of the man and the career of Eric Berry, but the perpetual day-to-day status is becoming as much of a depressing punch line as this statthers trending in a bearish directions: Demetrius Harris, Frank Zombo, NFL refereesStock FLATJay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY SportsTyreek Hill: He’s still the most dangerous player in the NFL, but he’s taken a bit of a backseat to Kelce, Watkins and Hunt in recent weeks. No worries, Hill’s next “breakout” game is coming soon, maybe even this week...Derrick Nnadi and Xavier Williams: It’s hard to give too much credit to the nose tackles on a team that struggles against the run as much as the 2018 Chiefs. But, to my eye, these two don’t share much of the blame either. The lunch-pail defenders up front get push and hold up well at the line of scrimmage, but too often, breakdowns happen behind them. These two have been pretty much as expected, solid and strong but not dynamic.Anthony Hitchens: Playing through a painful injury this week, Hitchens showed some signs of being the guy the Chiefs expected him to be. He’s still not great in coverage, but he deserves some credit, even if only for toughness. Others who are who we thought they were: Allen Bailey, Orlando Scandrick, Sammy Watkins The Kansas City Chiefs started slow, finished slower, but still held on to defeat the Denver Broncos 30-23 on Sunday afternoon, completing a season sweep of their division rivals and advancing to 7-1 at the halfway mark of their season. Here are five hot takes from the victory:1. Division games are different.Photo by David Eulitt/Getty ImagesIt’s pretty easy to look at Andy Reid’s record against the AFC West over the last few years and conclude that Reid owns this division — and at the top level, he does.He’s now won 19 of his last 20 regular-season games against AFC West opponents.Seven straight against the Broncos.Nine straight against the Los Angeles Chargers.Six of the last seven against the Oakland Raiders.But while familiarity breeds contempt — are there any teams Chiefs fans hate more than these three teams? — it also breeds competition.It’s a lot easier to game plan against a team you play a couple of times a year. Aside from the reps — an obvious factor — there’s another one: you can learn a lot more by playing a team than simply watching them on film.For an offensive chessmaster like Reid, eventually, that gives him the advantage.Indeed, through his first two seasons with the Chiefs, Reid was 5-7 against the AFC West.Since then, he’s 19-2.But even during those recent years, the AFC West games haven’t been cakewalks.Ten of them — almost half — were decided by a single score or less, and two of them went into overtime.I can’t speak for anybody else, but all of this is why — regardless of the location, records or stats involved — I almost never predict a blowout in a division game.And there are three of those left on the 2018 schedule.Assume nothing.2. Sam-MY!Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty ImagesIf you’ve been waiting for Sammy Watkins’ big breakout, Sunday’s game might have been it.He had eight catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in the game.That’s 453 yards and three touchdowns on 34 receptions so far this season.Eight games in, it doesn’t take complicated math to see that Watkins could end up with a season on par with his productive seasons in Buffalo; for the season, he could easily land somewhere near 1,000 yards, with catches somewhere in the high sixties.On a team where Watkins is third in receiving yards http://www.chiefscheapshoponline.com/cheap-authentic-reggie-ragland-jersey , receptions and targets, that’s saying something!Watkins is being paid a lot of money to be the third wide receiver, and the argument that this money might have been better spent on defense is indeed compelling.But that said, Watkins’ mere presence elevates the rest of the receivers; he’s one more weapon for which defenses must account.And regardless of how you feel about his paycheck, you have to love the way Watkins plays.He gets himself open, and once he has the ball, he’s a fearsome, hard-nosed runner who can get yards after catch.So it’s OK that we argue about the team’s priorities with regard to Watkins’ paycheck.But let’s not act like he isn’t a good player who isn’t helping this offense.He got paid because there are a lot of teams that would have paid a lot of money for what Watkins could have brought to their tables.And he’s delivering that to the Chiefs.3. The rushing quandaryPhoto by David Eulitt/Getty ImagesOn Sunday, the Chiefs rushed for only 49 yards on 18 carries.Meanwhile, the Broncos rushed for 189 yards on 30 attempts.That’s 2.7 yards per attempt to 6.3.That’s not going to do it, my friends.Everybody is convinced that in the NFL, the running game is dead — and there’s no doubt that in the 2018 season, the passing game is up significantly.NFL Offense through Week 7, 2017-2018Those are some amazing numbers.But none of this changes the fact that in a given game, being able to run the ball — and stop the run — can be very important.Last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Chiefs were able to shut them down by rushing the ball late in the game, eating up the clock until there simply wasn’t enough time for the Bengals to overcome the Chiefs lead.Yet on Sunday, the Chiefs couldn’t even get a first down on their last three drives.While the Chiefs defense was able to make some opportune plays late in the game to keep the Broncos down, with an ability to run the ball at will, the Chiefs could have — and should have — made the outcome of this game a foregone conclusion early in the fourth quarter, rather than on the game’s final play.What they did on Sunday was enough to beat the Broncos.But it might not be enough against better teams.In the hours immediately after the game, I can’t identify the precise problem on either side of the ball; I’m certain that as the week progresses, we’ll begin to have some potential answers.But the Chiefs are going to have to figure it out.4. A step forward, and half a step backPhoto by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesIt would have been nice for the Chiefs defense to continue the performance they had against the Bengals in Week 7.Five sacks of Case Keenum — one of them forcing a turnover — and Kendall Fuller’s interception certainly represented key defensive plays that helped put this game in the win column for the Chiefs.However, the 411 yards of offense the Broncos put up — while better than most games this season — still isn’t an acceptable number.But I’d really rather not focus on that.Instead, I’d like to focus on something the defense is continuing to do well: render opposing quarterbacks inefficient.Before the season began, I pointed out that in three of the last five seasons, the Chiefs defense held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating below 80.If your own quarterback can consistently perform 10-20 points better than your opponent, it’s a pretty good formula for success.In Alex Smith, the Chiefs had such a quarterback — especially in 2017.Obviously, Patrick Mahomes is performing at a significantly higher level than Smith, which gives the defense some leeway in this area.Even so, going into Week 8 — despite the problems we’ve seen on defense — the Chiefs have held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 88.8 in 2018, which is good for eighth in the league.Since the Chiefs have a team passer rating of 114.0 — third in the league — it helps explain how a team with a few truly awful defensive statistics could be 7-1 halfway through the season.So while we’d all like to see the Chiefs defense do better, it’s not as if the team’s success to this point has been a fluke.5. Mahomes keeps knocking ‘em downPhoto by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesMahomes needed only three passing touchdowns on Sunday to pass a list of all-time great quarterbacks who had thrown astounding numbers of touchdowns in the first eight weeks of a season.Three touchdowns also would have kept him ahead of the blistering pace established by Kurt Warner at the beginning of his NFL career.But on Sunday, Mahomes threw four.And also threw for 300 yards for the seventh consecutive week, which tied Peyton Manning’s modern-era streak that began in the 2012 season, but ended in the 2013 season.Drew Brees has had two streaks of nine games, but neither of those took place in a single season.But only one player has ever had a streak of seven or more 300-yard games in a single season.Andrew Luck had such a streak in 2014.It went for eight games.With one more next Sunday, Mahomes will tie Luck.With one more after that, he’ll be all alone.This young man — I just can’t call him “kid” anymore — is amazing.