The three leading contenders in the AFC West went on the road against competitive teams this weekend. The Broncos faltered and lost by 10 to Buffalo. The Raiders weren’t ready for primetime with a 17-point loss to Washington. The Chiefs, playing the Chargers, won by 14 on the road.
You’re going to point out that the Bills and Redskins are better than the Chargers or you’re going to point out that the Chiefs didn’t look very impressive in LA. I might agree with you on those.
To me, though, that’s the point. The Chiefs didn’t have their A game and they still won by 14. The Broncos didn’t have their A game and they lost in Buffalo. Same with the Raiders.
This is the NFL so the Chiefs are going to have ugly games. Look at the 12-win Raiders last night. They looked like one of the worst teams in football in Washington but we know they’re not bad. You’ll have bad games but can you still win? The Chiefs can.
The other big takeaway for me is the Chiefs continue to finish. They are a fourth quarter team. I started writing my recap early last night and I was leading it off talking about how the Chiefs had that dagger in the first two games — the entire fourth quarter in New England and the deep Chris Conley pass against the Eagles. In the words of Mortal Kombat, they finished them.
I didn’t think the Chiefs had a dagger coming in LA. I thought they were going to limp to a win. Which, that’s OK too. A win is a win. Right about then Kareem Hunt broke off that 69-yard run to seal the game. You could also call Justin Houston’s sack on third and long a dagger, too.
The Chiefs win when they don’t have their A game and they finish late in the game. Two things that are hopefully going to matter in January.