Even when the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t good, they’re usually good enough.
Anyone who tuned in to “Sunday Night Football” expecting a high-scoring Chiefs blowout got the exact opposite. The Chiefs offense was sluggish all night. The Denver Broncos led at the half and had a real chance for an upset.
But the Chiefs can win in many ways, and they found a way to beat the Broncos on a rough night. They took a lead late in the third quarter and then the defense did the rest, holding Denver scoreless in the fourth quarter of a 22-16 win to clinch a playoff berth.
The Chiefs are 11-1 because when they’re at their best, they’re close to unbeatable, and when they’re not sharp, they usually still find a way to win.
Broncos had a chance for the upset
The Broncos played better than pretty much anyone figured. The defense tried the one thing that has worked for stretches against the Chiefs, which is flooding the coverage lanes, not giving up anything deep and hoping the three- or four-man pass rush could get home. The Chiefs didn’t score their first touchdown until late in the third quarter. They settled for field goals in each of their first four trips inside the red zone.
Meanwhile, the Broncos offense made some things happen. Drew Lock hit a couple of touchdown passes to Tim Patrick. Melvin Gordon had more than 100 yards before the fourth quarter started. The Broncos led late into the third quarter and trailed just 19-16 into the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs made mistakes. They didn’t review what would have been a ridiculous touchdown catch by Tyreek Hill, mostly because nobody knew it was a catch, not even Hill himself. Another Hill touchdown in the fourth quarter was brought back due to a holding penalty. Right after that, Travis Kelce had a pass go off his hands that would have been a long third-down conversion.
You won’t catch the Chiefs on too many off nights, but Sunday was one. And it still didn’t cost Kansas City a win.
Chiefs have shown some weaknesses
There’s a notion that the Chiefs are unbeatable. That’s just not true, even if they are the best team in the NFL.
There have been games when the Chiefs needed to rally late to win, like victories over the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. They did lose to the Raiders at home earlier this season. They’re the favorite, but they can lose in January. The Pittsburgh Steelers match up well against them. It’s not going to be a walk to a second straight Lombardi Trophy.
But it’s hard to convince anyone of that when the Chiefs struggle and still win, like they did on Sunday night.
Kelce scored late in the third quarter, and the Broncos never answered. The Chiefs defense was good enough to shut down the Broncos offense down the stretch. Denver gave Kansas City a gift when it strangely decided to punt on fourth-and-3 near midfield with a few minutes to go. The Chiefs bled most of the clock after that and kicked a field goal.
Everyone but Broncos coach Vic Fangio would have predicted the Chiefs weren’t just going to go three-and-out after that bad decision to punt. The Broncos had one last chance to win, but Lock threw a fourth-down interception to Tyrann Mathieu with 24 seconds left and that was the end of the upset bid.
One of the NFL’s better teams might have won at Kansas City on Sunday night. The Broncos just weren’t good enough to put together a drive after the Chiefs took the lead. If the Chiefs play their best, nobody in the NFL is going to beat them. But there are moments they look vulnerable. It’ll just take the right team to take advantage of it.
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