Never make an excuse for winning an ugly game. That’s exactly what the Kansas City Chiefs did today, defeating the Los Angeles Chargers 22-6. The lopsided score could have been twice that, but this team showed some rust after their bye week.
It was a strange day of football in the NFL, with upsets, overtime games, and head-scratchers; the Kansas City Chiefs did what they needed on Sunday, defeating the previously winless Los Angeles Chargers 22-6.
Let’s be honest, the Chiefs’ red zone offense needs some work. Twice, the Chiefs failed to score inside the five-yard line. In fact, they didn’t get any points on those failed snaps. First, Patrick Mahomes threw an interception on third down, hoping to get the ball out of bounds. Second, Kenneth Walker was stuffed at the one-yard line, leaving the door ajar for a Chargers comeback.
Harrison Butker missed an extra point and a pair of field goals; had he hit any of the three, the Chiefs probably would have pulled some of their starters. Walker did score twice, rushing for 128 yards on 19 carries.
Mahomes was surgical, spreading the ball to eight different players and finishing with 272 yards, converting on 23 of 30 passes. He faced some pressure as the Chargers showed grit today, but in the end the offense, despite its red-zone failures, did enough to beat its division rival.
The day’s heroes were on the defensive side of the ball. Every time the offense sputtered, they delivered. They harassed Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who had four rookie offensive linemen trying to hold off the Chiefs’ pass rush. They knocked down several passes and sacked Herbert four times.
Steve Spagnuolo changed up the pass rush against the Chargers. Several times he lined up George Karlaftis and Ashton Gillotte inside and used Chris Jones and R. Mason Thomas on the edge. It was very effective and something to watch next week in Seattle.
I’m sure when Head Coach Andy Reid looks at the film tonight, he’ll lament some of his red-zone play calls and hopefully find a fix for the Chiefs’ short-yardage situations that continue to plague this offense.
It’s critical to correct it because, with back-to-back road games at Seattle and Denver, they can’t leave points on the board and expect to win. I’m confident Butker will figure it out, but swirling wind at Arrowhead affected the path between the goalposts. Perhaps they just need to keep feeding the rock to Walker in those situations.
It was a strange day in the NFL: the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars lost both AFC divisional games, but the Buffalo Bills, who appear to be the best team in the NFL right now, had another impressive road win over the Raiders in Las Vegas.
AS the only unbeaten team in the AFC, the path to home-field advantage lies in Buffalo or Kansas City. TO their credit, the Chiefs have started 5-0, and they are still working with a very young roster. Still, the defense balled out on Sunday, and if they keep improving, this team has a chance to earn the top seed in the AFC.
Offensively, the good news is that wide receivers Rashee Rice and left tackle Josh Simmons should be good to go Sunday night against the Seahawks. That should help with the short-yardage failures.
For now, I’ll take the win and, after a wacky Sunday, count my blessings and take the game for what it was – a divisional matchup.
