Suppose the Kansas City Chiefs win the Super Bowl in February. If they do, we’ll look back at this season, particularly their Friday showdown against the Las Vegas Raiders, as the fork in the road that perhaps serves as a launching pad toward whatever is next for this 11-1 football team.
I’m running out of superlatives, praise, frustration, and sheer doubt; the 2024 Kansas City Chiefs are the luckiest or best team in the NFL. In a game, Patrick Mahomes threw for over 300 yards, Chris Jones had two sacks, and Raiders Quarterback Aiden O’Connell had this game won with just ten seconds left on the clock, yet his fumble ended the Raiders upset big.
In winning 19-17, the Chiefs clinched a playoff game for the tenth year. They also won their 14th consecutive one-score game and maintained the top seed in the AFC.
As incredible as it is that the Chiefs won on a bad snap that led to Nick Bolton recovering a fumble, it was even stranger that Raider’s kicker Daniel Carlson had his Lin Elliott moment and missed three field goals. If he hits one of them, the Chiefs lose.
Instead, when it was all but certain a deserving loss would fall on the Chief’s helmet, another unexplainable ending ensured a dramatic twist of fate, and fans in Buffalo were distraught. Kansas City pulled another rabbit out of the hat.
We need to be honest with ourselves, the Chiefs are damn lucky to be 11-1. They’ve won games this season in the final seconds by a toe of out-of-bounds negating a touchdown. A pass interference penalty on 4th and 15, a blocked field goal as time ran out, and a fumble Friday with the Raiders in field goal range.
I’m not sure I need to laugh, cry, shrug it off and tell myself, this is just the way the 2024 Chiefs are going to play every game in the regular and postseason.
The Chiefs won this game despite a poor performance by the secondary. Left tackle Wanya Morris was pulled in the fourth quarter and relieved by Joe Thuney. Now, DJ Humphries should be ready to play against the Los Angeles Chargers a week from Sunday. Still, that sounds great, but he hasn’t played for nearly a year.
In this game, so many things went wrong offensively. In the first half, Travis Kelce was incredible. In the second half, he dropped passes and couldn’t get into any rhythm offensively. It was so bad for Kelce that he missed a key block when Mahomes tried to hit Xavier Worthy on a deep pass on third and two. He went straight to the locker room after the game.
Andy Reid has some serious issues with his offense, and his play calling was far from his best. They barely ran the ball and instead kept trying to pass it despite his poor play and penalties from his tackles. It was great to see Isiah Pacheco back in the lineup, but he had just seven carries and 44 yards rushing.
The fact Reid didn’t use him more suggests he was on a pitch count, but after gaining five yards on first down on the Chief final drive, he never touched the ball again, and Kansas City had to punt again.
Thankfully, the defense bailed out the offense. On a positive note, Charles Omenihu’s 2024 debut was a massive success. His addition helped Jones and George Karlaftis play one of their best games of the season.
Moving forward, his return should pay big dividends. The secondary may be under less fire if they can improve their pass rush. Still, Nazeeh Johnson was benched for Joshua Williams, who played a good game. The same can’t be said for Trent McDuffie and Chamarri Connor, who are being asked to play roles on this defense that does not fit their skill set.
On a positive note, the Chiefs did win a football game, and it was clear they were less than fulfilled with the euphoria of their victory. Lady Luck was kind to the Chiefs, but at some point against better competition, the poor play on both sides of the ball will need to be improved.
Kansas City has two extra days off to prepare for the Los Angeles Chargers. That should give Reid and his staff enough time to make some changes for the final five games of the season,
At least, let’s hope they can.
