Wow, I was not expecting that.

Thursday night marked the start of the 2017 NFL season, and the game lived up to the hype.

I’m not sure if I should say hype though, everyone, including myself, were picking the Patriots to win by double digits.

I expected the Chiefs to play how they usually do in these big games. One where they usually stay in the game for a while only to disappoint us and lose it down the stretch, reminding us that Alex Smith isn’t quite good enough.

But that couldn’t have been farther from the truth, as Alex Smith may have had the best game of his career, which was very important for his job security.

Smith was just about perfect, going 28-35 with 368 yards and four touchdowns.

Tyreek Hill (or as I like to call him “TyFreak Hill”) had a monster game going for 133 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions, he had one of the most important plays of the night when Smith and him connected on a 75 yard touchdown that put the Chiefs up 21-17, which was their first lead of the night.

The name you’re going to hear everywhere though is Kareem Hunt, the rookie third round pick from Toledo, who set an NFL record for most yards from a debuting player with 239.

He also caught two touchdowns and ran in one, it seemed like every time that he touched the ball he was doing something noteworthy.

What’s amazing is that he did this all after he fumbled his very first NFL carry, which he never does. When I say he never fumbles, I mean it, in four years and 782 carries at Toledo, he never lost a fumble.

There’s not a lot more to say, he was amazing, and I haven’t seen a game that great from a Chiefs running back since Jamaal Charles was in his prime.

Now I could focus on some negatives on the offense, like how Kelce is still making stupid decisions that are costing this team, but let’s just focus on how great of the game the offense had.

Defensively the Chiefs really struggled, but some key sacks down the stretch from Justin Houston secured the win.

I was hoping that the addition of Bennie Logan would at least make the Chiefs a decent run defense, but they showed no signs of that last night, which was disappointing, but it’s a long season.

I have to be honest though, I want to be excited about this season, but the loss of Eric Berry is going to hurt this defense a lot in different ways.

Berry ruptured his achilles in the win, ending his season.

The Chiefs have some depth of safety as Ron Parker is a very capable player, and in Daniel Sorenson.

The injury will most notably affect the Chiefs efficiency guarding tight ends, which Berry did better than any other player, that’s why you barely heard Gronkowski’s name on Thursday.

Overall, the offense was extremely impressive, but you can’t expect them to keep this efficiency going throughout the season. As much as I want him to, Alex Smith will not throw for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns.

The defense is what’s going to make or break this team, and if they can figure it out there without their leader Eric Berry, then the sky’s the limit with this team.