The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t lost yet, a fact that belies the emotions that have consumed the first two games of a new season. Some stars have yet to get going. Other players are missing. Some roster issues could become real concerns, and we haven’t even touched on Isiah Pacheco’s status yet.

With the Chiefs now 2-0 and looking to take a series lead over the Atlanta Falcons in 48 hours, we wanted to at least celebrate (and condemn) a few things about the team’s 26-25 win over the Bengals.

Here are the winners and losers from Week 2 for the Chiefs.

Considering all the unwanted headlines Rashee Rice has generated this offseason, it’s astonishing to think where this team would be without his on-field development.

For the second straight game, Rice led the Chiefs in receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals with 75, and it was a close call. (Justin Watson had two catches for 22 yards.) While one game is no cause for concern, the truth is there has been a significant drop-off in the WR room since Rice, and the severity of Hollywood Brown’s injury only exacerbates that concern.

While it’s possible that Xavier Worthy’s growth curve will limit that need, the Chiefs are fortunate at this point to have a player as efficient, dangerous and reliable as Rice at the wide receiver position.

There’s no other way to describe the Carson Steele Experience (that phrase should be trademarked) than by acknowledging the ups and downs of what was a rollercoaster ride on Sunday. That’s not an insult to Steele at all. It’s to be expected from a player who was an undrafted free agent just a few months ago.

Steele’s rise through the rankings was already a huge preseason story for the Chiefs, but it’s clear he’s earned a lot of trust from the coaching staff given the number of plays he got in the team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the extra time, Chiefs Kingdom saw firsthand just how tough he can be, while also seeing how rookie mistakes can change a game in the blink of an eye. But most importantly, despite his fumble in the first half, the Chiefs quickly came back to him for a few more carries. That should bode well for him going forward.

The stats tell you that Chris Jones had a forgettable game on the defensive front for the Chiefs with a lone half-sack to his name — certainly not a performance anyone will remember. And yet it’s exactly the effort he put forth in a win over Cincy on Sunday that makes Jones the best interior disruptor in the game today.

Jones made the Bengals look downright ridiculous at times on the defensive interior with his game-wrecking ability to get to the quarterback. His presence freed up others to get the job done and log the stats, but Jones deserves as much credit as anyone for the fear he inspires and the lanes he dominates.

Just ask Joe Burrow and his team how hard they tried to accommodate Jones’ talents and how far they got on Sunday afternoon.

It feels weird and even wrong to write that, but it doesn’t help anyone sugarcoat Patrick Mahomes’ performance on Sunday. It just wasn’t one of his best.

From taking hits to missing targets, Mahomes made several mistakes against the Bengals, but the most frustrating was gifting an interception to Akeem Davis-Gaither. It was the second straight game in which Mahomes had served up a turnover on a silver platter, and until the game’s closing seconds, it seemed like this kind of self-defeating mistake would make the difference between winning and losing.

Mahomes will be the first to say he needs to play better, and that’s part of what makes him so great. It also speaks volumes to the coaching and talent elsewhere on the roster that the team can start 0-2 when play under center is erratic at times.

Replacing Tommy Townsend wouldn’t be an easy role for anyone, as the former Chiefs punter had developed into one of the NFL’s greatest specialists, but there’s a reason Matt Araiza was once nicknamed “punt god.” We’re not sure whether we like the nickname or not, but we’re already in love with Araiza’s astonishing ability to turn the field over in any situation.

On Sunday, Araiza only had two punts, but he made the most of them, covering 112 yards between them, including a massive 63-yarder. Both punts ended up inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, and one, thanks to some help from Joshua Williams, was knocked down around the 1-yard line. If the Chiefs are going to face some offensive hurdles, it’s good to know they have someone who can apply pressure and give the defense some leverage.

Araiza is a total revelation at the position and a very impressive under-the-radar addition who should earn more praise as the season progresses. Araiza already looks like a worthy successor to Townsend and then some, and yet he’s going to play for peanuts for the Chiefs in the coming seasons.

Is there an answer to this or not? That’s a big question on the minds of Chiefs Kingdom after watching Trey Hendrickson dominate the Chiefs up front for 60 minutes on Sunday.

It’s far too early to make any judgments about the ceiling of either player, especially Suamataia, who was a second-round pick just four months ago and learned the game on the job while trying to fend off the best efforts of elite teams like the Ravens and Bengals. That said, the Chiefs either need to add more help on the perimeter or give them time to learn and grow behind the scenes. There’s no excuse to throw a kid who isn’t ready to go to the wolves like Suamataia did on Sunday.

This feels like a big moment for the Chiefs defense, a moment when a young player stepped up and announced his candidacy for more opportunities — and that player is Chamarri Conner.

Conner is a sophomore defensive back who was the team’s fourth-round pick last year out of Virginia Tech. Now, entering their first year without L’Jarius Sneed in four years, the secondary needed someone to declare themselves ready. The unit is loaded with young, cost-controlled options who are largely untested.

While Jaylen Watson will make some good plays and Joshua Williams will excel on special teams (at least), the truth is that Conner’s ability to step up on Sunday could take his place with some big plays à la Sneed, just what Spags ordered.