Let’s Argue: “The Chiefs were bailed out against the Patriots”

Inspired by a video series created by music reviewer Anthony Fantano, Robert Rimpson’s weekly series takes a look at hot takes, unpopular opinions, wacky predictions and more from Kansas City Chiefs fans.

“The Chiefs were bailed out by bad calls against the Patriots”

Let’s get this out of the way: the officiating in Sunday’s Chiefs-Patriots game was awful.

The referees missed several calls, called penalties that weren’t there and took six points away from New England when Travis Kelce’s fumble was ruled dead prematurely. On that same drive — with the Patriots unable to challenge the ruling — what should have been a touchdown was called back.

While bad officiating may have been one of the reasons the Chiefs beat New England, it wasn’t the only reason.

On the drive where the Pats had a touchdown revoked, they still had first-and-goal after that play — and still failed to get into the end zone. Including that drive, the Patriots had three chances to tie the game and force overtime — but each time, the Chiefs defense was able to keep them at bay.

The Chiefs were penalized 10 times for 136 yards. New England had five for 25 yards. Patrick Mahomes was battling an injured hand. The team had to overcome an early 7-0 deficit — one that was largely fueled by two penalties against Kansas City.

In my opinion, the Chiefs weren’t given a bunch of lucky breaks. They earned the victory.

Besides, even Tom Brady admitted that his team received the benefit of some bad calls in the past. Maybe the Patriots have had this coming for a long time.

“The defense is better than the offense”

We touched on a similar topic in last week’s edition of Let’s Argue — and after Sunday’s game, my opinion isn’t that much different. The Chiefs have scored 122 points in the last four games — that’s over 30 points per game — so it’s hard to argue the offense has been bad.

But I also think people are frustrated with the offense because it is struggling in two key areas: scoring late in games and getting points from turnovers.

In the last three games decided by one score, the Chiefs have scored only 10 points in the fourth quarter and just 17 points (two touchdowns and a field goal) from the six turnovers they forced in those games.

At this point in the season, the defense has done more than anyone could’ve asked — and the offense isn’t playing to its full potential. But even at its lowest point, it’s hard to be better than the best offense in the league — although week by week, the Chiefs defense is building its case.

“The Chiefs are better off on the road in the playoffs”

I mean... maybe?

I shouldn’t have to remind anyone about the Chiefs’ abysmal home playoff record — and that three of their four losses this season have come at Arrowhead. With Sunday’s win, the team has proved it can beat a Super Bowl contender on the road. Maybe a game or two away from Arrowhead could shake off some of the bad luck the team has had in the playoffs.

An AFC Championship game on the road would certainly put less pressure on the Chiefs, so I wouldn’t be against it.

“The Broncos might upset the Chiefs this Sunday”

This isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The Denver Broncos are fresh off of a one-sided victory against the Houston Texans, who had beaten New England the week before. In the last two weeks, Denver’s new starting quarterback Drew Lock has played lights-out — and who knows how Mahomes’ hand will feel after being badly bruised against the Patriots?

If they win out, the Chiefs still have a good chance at getting a bye in the playoffs, so they’ll have motivation to win this game — which will be at Arrowhead. But the Chiefs haven’t exactly been unbeatable at home — and it’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Lock.

Ultimately, I think the Chiefs will win. But the game may be a lot closer than people think.

“None of these takes are unpopular”

Have you seen the comment sections on these Let’s Argue articles? Trust me: a lot of these takes are unpopular. Besides... I also deal in hot takes and wild predictions, which covers a lot of the opinions we address.