Chiefs can oust foes without their A-game
Despite missed TDs and stalled drives, Kansas City toppled Denver to reach 11-1
The Kansas City Chiefs were far from dominant. They settled for field goals instead of touchdowns too many times. They had two touchdown passes from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Tyreek Hill that didn't count. They allowed the Denver Broncos, who at least had a quarterback available this time, to stay within striking distance for most of Sunday night's game at Arrowhead Stadium.
But the Chiefs are not merely talented and dynamic and often spectacular. They're also gritty and resourceful. That's why they're the defending Super Bowl champs. That's why they're neck and neck with the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the conference and seeking to host their third straight AFC Championship Game.
Mahomes and the Chiefs did just enough right to beat the Broncos, 22-16, to clinch a playoff spot in the AFC.
“It's obviously a big deal,” Mahomes said. “Kind of your first step, you want to find a way to get into the playoffs. But like you said, we have bigger goals. We understand it's a step-by-step process.”
The Chiefs won their seventh straight game, beat the Broncos for the second time this season and improved to 11-1.
They have the same record as the Steelers, as the teams chase the top seed and the lone opening-round post-season bye in the AFC under the NFL's new expanded playoff format.
“We finished it up when everything wasn't going right,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
“In years past, maybe you don't win that game. I appreciated the intensity and the championship attitude that these guys showed today and demonstrated, and the desire to win the game.”
Mahomes threw a third-quarter touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce as part of a 25-for-40, 318yard passing performance. Kelce had eight catches for 136 yards.
Kicker Harrison Butker provided field goals of 35, 24, 23 and 31 yards while the Chiefs were failing to reach the end zone well into the third quarter. He added a fifth field goal, from 48 yards, with just over a minute remaining and safety Tyrann Mathieu intercepted a pass by Broncos quarterback Drew Lock with 24 seconds to play to seal the outcome.
“We're just battle-tested,” Mahomes said in a post-game video news conference. “We've played a lot of tight football games. We have to find ways to win. Obviously we didn't play the way we wanted to as far as in the red zone of executing and scoring touchdowns instead of field goals. But in this league, you've got to find a way to win. Every single team is going to bring their best shot and is going to have a chance to beat you. And as long as you come out with the win in the end, it doesn't have to be pretty. And I thought the guys did a great job of battling today and finding a way.”
Hill had a 40-yard touchdown catch that wasn't in the first half. He made a juggling catch in the end zone, as the ball fell into his hands while he was on the turf. But Hill failed to realize that he'd made the catch and didn't alert Reid. The Chiefs did not issue an instant replay challenge of the on-field ruling of an incompletion, instead punting the ball away.
“I'll take the blame for the one,” Reid said in his video conference with reporters after the game. “I've never had a receiver that didn't know he caught the ball. So, I mean, he came off and said he didn't catch it. And I probably should have hung on to that just a little bit longer, to look at the replay. But I've been doing this a couple years. I've never had that situation. So it was a new experience for me. I'll try to do better the next time.”
Said Mahomes: “I told Tyreek in the locker-room, I said, `Man, you're so good at receiver, you don't even know when you catch touchdowns.' ”
In the fourth quarter, Mahomes found Hill for a 48-yard touchdown. Hill, all alone at the end of the play, stopped just shy of the goal-line and waited. Then he waited some more. Then he performed a backflip into the end zone. The officials threw two flags on the play. A holding call on the Chiefs negated the touchdown. The flag against Hill was picked up after the officials conferred. The Chiefs ended up punting on the drive.
“We've just got to finish strong,” Kelce said in a post-game interview with NBC. “Hats off to the Raiders. They've done an unbelievable job the past two games of presenting a challenge on third downs and in the red zone. It is what it is. We've got to keep fighting.”
The Raiders?
“My hat goes out to the Broncos,” Reid said. “They came in and played a nice game.”
The win ended a long day for the Chiefs that began with some anxious moments early Sunday morning when the team had a number of positive coronavirus test results. But the positive results were not confirmed upon retesting, and they were regarded as false positives. A person familiar with the situation confirmed that the Chiefs had “some false positives.” Fox, which first reported the incident, reported that it was seven false positive tests.
Lock had two touchdown passes for the Broncos, both to wide receiver Tim Patrick, but also was picked off twice by Mathieu. Lock was back in the lineup one week after the Broncos had none of their quarterbacks eligible to play in a loss in Denver to the New Orleans Saints.
So the Broncos had a quarterback this time.
Unfortunately for them, it wasn't Mahomes.
“I think it builds up that confidence that you can win games different ways,” Mahomes said. “If you look at how we've played the last few games, we've won every single way possible, it seems like. ... In this league, you have to find a way. Not everything is going to be easy. We're not going to throw 70yard touchdowns to Tyreek every single play. ... But we're going to go out there and battle and find a way to do whatever we can to just have more points than the other team at the end of the game.”
For the Chiefs, securing a post-season berth is just the start.
“We didn't talk at all about it in the locker-room, about the playoffs,” Reid said. “We just talked about getting ourselves ready for next week.”
I told Tyreek in the locker-room, I said, `Man, you're so good at receiver, you don't even know when you catch touchdowns.'