Chiefs grades: Kansas City produces a nice report card to bring home for the holidays
The Chiefs’ playoff position didn’t change with their 26-3 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football.
The Chiefs will go into Week 17 as the third seed in the AFC as the postseason approches. They can become the second seed and earn a first-round bye with a home victory over the L.A. Chargers Sunday and a New England Patriots loss to the Miami Dolphins. Or they can fall to the fourth seed with a loss and a Houston Texans victory over the Tennessee Titans.
Bottom line: Don’t expect the Chiefs’ starters to rest next weekend against the Chargers. Not with a No. 2 seed at stake.
“If we get it, that’s great,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And if we don’t, we’ll deal with that, too.”
KC Star of the Game
Safety Tyrann Mathieu believed he should’ve been selected to play in the Pro Bowl when the team was announced last week. He proved why on Sunday. Mathieu often has the freedom to line up where he wants and was all over the field in Chicago. He nearly had an interception in the first quarter and had five tackles by halftime. He finished with six. The entire defense played well, again. Mathieu is bidding for an All-Pro nod.
Reason to hope: The Chiefs entered Sunday Night Football at the Chicago Bears ranked 24th in red-zone touchdown efficiency. That is, they scored touchdowns on 51.1 percent of the possessions that reach the opponent’s 20. The Chiefs went three-for-three on red zone touchdowns: Patrick Mahomes’ 12-yard run and touchdown passes of 6 yards to Travis Kelce and 14 yards to Damien Williams. Mahomes finished 22 of 33 for 251 yards and a 112.1 passer rating.
Reason to mope: The Patriots didn’t cooperate over the weekend and defeated the Bills Saturday, making it difficult for the Chiefs to reach the second seed and gain a first-round playoff bye.
Next: The Chargers visit Arrowhead Stadium for a noon kickoff Sunday. The Chiefs will be bidding to match last season’s 12-4 record.
Passing offense: A
How about this statistic? On the first series Mahomes completed a 20-yard pass to Tyreek Hill on a third-and-18. In such situations this season, third or fourth down with at least 18 yards to gain, Mahomes is 9-for-10 for 220 yards, five first downs and four touchdowns. No other QB has more than two first downs on such throws this season, according to ESPN Stats info. Mahomes was solid against one of the NFL’s top defenses even, with Khalil Mack in pursuit all evening.
Passing defense: A
What’s not to like? Mitchell Trubisky had played well over the past month, but he got nothing going against the Chiefs. Charvarius Ward came up with the biggest play, an end-zone pass breakup on a fourth-and-goal Trubisky pass in the third quarter. Trubisky threw for just 157 yards.
Rushing offense: B
Interesting call to make LeSean McCoy a healthy scratch. Spencer Ware started. Damien Williams saw action for the first time since suffering a rib injury against the Chargers in Mexico City. The Chiefs put the game away in the fourth quarter by controlling the ball on the ground. They surpassed 100 rushing yards as a team for the first time in a month.
Rushing defense: B
Trubisky carried the ball on four of his first six snaps — the Bears wanted to establish the run. It never happened with any consistency. The Bears finished with 101 rushing yards and 234 total yards, the second-lowest total by a Chiefs opponent this season and third straight game in which a Kansas City foe was held to 278 or fewer yards.
Special teams: A
How about a 56-yard field goal for Harrison Butker? It was a career best for the kicker who entered the game as the NFL’s scoring leader. We’re not going to ding Butker and the special teams for the extra-point miss in the fourth quarter.
Coaching: A
This grade is as much for defensive coordinator Steve Spagunolo as Reid or offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. The Chiefs haven’t allowed a touchdown since the third quarter of the Patriots game. The defensive improvement has been stunning and makes the Chiefs a dangerous team in the postseason.
An NBC graphic posted at the end of the game: a Reid-coached team had never surrendered three or fewer points in consecutive games in his 21 years.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 10:41 PM.