{"id":16520,"date":"2024-12-09T16:30:52","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520"},"modified":"2024-12-09T16:30:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T16:30:52","slug":"5-things-we-learned-as-the-chiefs-beat-the-chargers-on-sunday-night-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520","title":{"rendered":"5 things we learned as the Chiefs beat the Chargers on \u2018Sunday Night Football\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

In front of a national \u201cSunday Night Football\u201d audience, the <\/em>Kansas City Chiefs gutted out a 19-17 victory over the <\/em>Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14, claiming their ninth consecutive AFC West championship.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here are five things we learned on Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n

1. The Chiefs got a 2-for-1 deal on new ways to win a game<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"5 <\/picture> <\/span> Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

Since Kansas City had already won a game with a last-second field goal by its first-string kicker Harrison Butker (the 26-25 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2) and a last-second field goal by its second<\/em>-string kicker Spencer Shrader (the 30-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers two weeks ago), it was necessary for the team to win a game with a last-second field goal by its third<\/em>-string kicker Matthew Wright.<\/p>\n

The fact that Wright\u2019s 31-yard field goal doinked <\/em>off the left upright \u2014 and still went through for the win \u2014 eliminates one other<\/em> way the Chiefs might win a close game this season.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be honest: the Chiefs will never find all <\/em>the different ways to win a close game this season. After all, it\u2019s mathematically impossible for them to discover more than seven (or maybe eight) new ways. All they really need to do is avoid finding ways to lose<\/em> close games.<\/p>\n

So far, they\u2019ve been astonishingly good at that.<\/p>\n

2. The two defenses were just as advertised<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"5 <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

When Arrowhead Pride<\/em> panelists turned in their predictions for this game, only two of us thought either<\/em> team would score more than 24 points. There was a good reason for that: both teams have top-flight defenses.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles came into Sunday\u2019s game allowing just 15.7 points a game \u2014 the league\u2019s best mark. The Chiefs were ranked eighth at 19.6 points per game. And Sunday\u2019s game showed both units doing what they do best. It\u2019s just what we should have expected.<\/p>\n

Yes… it was disturbing for Kansas City fans to watch the Chargers offense open the third quarter with a sustained drive to score their first touchdown \u2014 and then follow it with a five-play drive to take a 14-13 lead. I\u2019m sure it was just as difficult for Los Angeles fans to watch Patrick Mahomes dink and dunk his way down the field in the second quarter to score Kansas City\u2019s only touchdown \u2014 or watch the brilliant plays Mahomes executed on the Chiefs\u2019 final drive.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s game was a great example of what good teams do: they probe for weaknesses, adjusting their strategies to take advantage of that day\u2019s opponent. If they succeed, the other team does the same thing. This goes back and forth until the final whistle.<\/p>\n

So far this season, Kansas City has done a better job of making those adjustments in 12 of its 13 games. And that\u2019s why it\u2019s still<\/em> the AFC\u2019s team to beat.<\/p>\n

3. We were expecting too much of D.J. Humphries<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"5 <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by Scott Winters\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

With all of the issues that the Chiefs\u2019 offensive line has worked through this season, it\u2019s not surprising that many saw the signing of Humphries \u2014 a former first-round pick \u2014 as an instant solution to those problems.<\/p>\n

This was probably wishful thinking. It\u2019s asking a lot for a player who suffered an ACL injury near the end of one season to be ready to perform at 100% before the end of the following season. It\u2019s even more unreasonable to expect that from a player who\u2019s been with a team for a couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

While Humphries didn\u2019t look like an All-Pro against Los Angeles, he didn\u2019t look like an overmatched rookie, either. As the saying goes, he was neither as good as we had hoped nor as bad as we had feared.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s OK. Assuming that the injury that forced him out of Sunday night\u2019s game (reported to be a tweaked hamstring) is not serious, we can expect him to continue to get more in tune with his teammates \u2014 and get back into football shape, too. If he can do that, he\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n

4. Andy Reid \u2014 and Patrick Mahomes \u2014 are geniuses<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"5 <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by Jamie Squire\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m certain there were times in Sunday night\u2019s game where you were ready to tear your hair out over one of Reid\u2019s play-calls or one of Mahomes\u2019 decisions.<\/p>\n

But the third-and-7 play that sealed this win was a thing of beauty.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The Chiefs expected the Chargers to come after them on the Mahomes pass to Travis Kelce with 2:00 left in the game. Instead, they dropped into Invert-2, and Mahomes threw out the RB Flat\/QB Run options. He had Kelce on the sit route. That set up the game-winning DOINK. pic.twitter.com\/aZ1xaumGHs<\/p>\n

\u2014 Doug Farrar \u270d (@NFL_DougFarrar) December 9, 2024<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

At the snap, the offensive line goes to its left while Mahomes rolls right \u2014 with running back Samaje Perine leading him to the flat. After motioning to the left before the snap, wideout DeAndre Hopkins (Yes… DeAndre Hopkins!) <\/em>does his job: he chips Joey Bosa, <\/em>who has become a free rusher off the right edge after Jawaan Taylor goes to the left. Bosa and three other Chargers converge on Mahomes, while two others go after Perine.<\/p>\n

And for the 431st time, fans of another team exclaimed, \u201cHow <\/em>can they leave Travis Kelce uncovered<\/em> like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple \u2014 when Reid and Mahomes bait them into it.<\/p>\n

5. Buffalo is not unbeatable<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"5 <\/picture> <\/span> Photo by Harry How\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figure>\n

When the Buffalo Bills defeated the Chiefs 30-21 in Week 11, more than a few observers assumed that their remaining schedule \u2014 a bye week followed by the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, New York Jets and the Patriots again \u2014 would lead to five (if not six) wins. This wasn\u2019t good news for the Chiefs, who would face four AFC playoff teams during their last seven games.<\/p>\n

So after Week 13\u2019s action, the New York Times playoff calculator gave the Chiefs a 47% chance to win the AFC\u2019s No. 1 seed. But during Sunday\u2019s late-afternoon games, the Bills recorded a 44-42 road loss to the Rams. By itself, that increased Kansas City\u2019s chance to 68%. Following Sunday\u2019s night\u2019s win over the Chargers, it rose to 77%.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the Chiefs must keep winning \u2014 in… you know… whatever way they can. And they\u2019re still in control of their destiny: by winning out, they\u2019ll clinch the top seed. But the door is now wide open for Kansas City to clinch it before then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What did we learn as Kansas City won its ninth straight AFC West title?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"\n5 things we learned as the Chiefs beat the Chargers on \u2018Sunday Night Football\u2019 - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 things we learned as the Chiefs beat the Chargers on \u2018Sunday Night Football\u2019 - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What did we learn as Kansas City won its ninth straight AFC West title?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-09T16:30:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/e5-5-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrThanh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=16520\",\"name\":\"5 things we learned as the Chiefs beat the Chargers on \u2018Sunday Night Football\u2019 - 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