National NFL media on Chiefs after win in Miami: unstoppable, unfair and ... bored
At the end of the first quarter on Sunday, the Chiefs trailed the Miami Dolphins 7-0 and Patrick Mahomes had taken a 30-yard sack, fumbled (which he recovered) and thrown two interceptions.
But over the next 17 minutes, the Chiefs outscored the Dolphins 28-3 and were on their way to a 33-27 victory.
The Chiefs made quite an impression on national NFL media members. This is what they were writing or saying about the Chiefs, whose record is 12-1.
Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr wrote a story with the headline, ”What will it take to dethrone the Chiefs?”
This is a portion of what he wrote: “If we needed another reminder of the Chiefs’ overall heft, Sunday was as good as it gets. It’s sometimes better to judge them on days like this, when they show how far behind the rest of the league drags. Once the pandemic swept the offseason away, it was safe to assume that teams having an established quarterback-coach relationship and coordinator retention would hold an advantage. This win illustrated the width of that separation.”
The Athletic’s Robert May said in a radio interview that the Chiefs’ early mistakes should have doomed them.
“When you throw two interceptions within the few minutes of a game and you take a 30-yard sack on the third drive, you should lose that game,” May said. “That’s a game against a playoff team that NFL teams lose on the road, week in and week out, even really good ones. ... The Chiefs are never in that position. The game is never over. There’s no way you can jump on them, because there is no lead that is insurmountable.”
One of the takeaways for Nick Shook of NFL.com was the Chiefs’ elite speed. “Even against the most inspired and stingy defenses,” Shook wrote, “Kansas City is still incredibly difficult to slow down. We can count on death, taxes and the Chiefs producing highlight plays.”
Benjamin Hoffman of the New York Times looked back at Week 12 and said the Chiefs “aren’t fair.” His is part of what he wrote: “The Miami Dolphins’ opportunistic defense had (Mahomes) flustered for much of the day, picking him off three times in 34 attempts. On top of that, Miami made Mahomes look foolish on a rambling play in which he repeatedly retreated before being sacked for a 30-yard loss. The Dolphins picked up a fourth takeaway on a fumble by Mecole Hardman. And Tua Tagovailoa had the first 300-yard passing game of his career.
“Despite all that, Miami lost, 33-27. And it didn’t feel that close.”
During NBC Sports’ pregame show before “Sunday Night Football,” former Colts coach Tony Dungy said the Chiefs allow teams to make games close because they’re bored.
USA Today’s Charles McDonald wrote a story with the headline, “The Chiefs’ imperfect win over the Dolphins showed why no one is stopping them.”
Here is an excerpt: “No matter what opposing teams do, the Chiefs just drop an avalanche of big plays and overwhelm teams. Their win against the Dolphins was the perfect example of how they don’t need to play anywhere remotely close to a perfect game to come away with a win.
“Let’s just give the Lombardi Trophy to the Chiefs right now. No one is stopping them in the postseason if this is how their off days look.”
In Mark Maske’s power rankings for the Washington Post, the Chiefs are No. 1. He wrote in part: “The Chiefs are in line to be the AFC’s No. 1 seed and there’s no reason to believe they won’t finish 15-1, if that’s what it takes.”
