KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The celebration for the Kansas City Chiefs’ latest victory on the final play of the game had barely died down when coach Andy Reid provided an impassive look at how his team survived so many difficult situations.
“We’ve been given opportunities and we’ve taken advantage of them, and then we’ve created some opportunities ourselves with some good plays,” Reid said Monday, about 24 hours after the Chiefs blocked a field goal attempt on goal. final play to preserve a 16-14 win over the Denver Broncos “You’d probably say that. [the Broncos] They outplayed us and then ended up not winning the game.
“You give credit to your locker room and your coaches just for being mentally tough and persevering.”
The Chiefs have done just that by taking their record to 9-0, the last undefeated team in the NFL.
But many of their numbers say they are an unconventional team at 9-0. Their plus-58 point differential is the worst for any of the 13 teams that started 9-0 since 2000. They have been losing in eight games. Their opponents scored first in six of them. They have led for fewer minutes and trailed for more minutes during games than any of their 9-0 predecessors.
As Reid said, Kansas City deserves credit for fighting back in numerous close games and making the plays to win. The Chiefs have won seven games by seven points or less, including four that were decided on the final play.
But is that sustainable? Or, if this continues, are they headed for a decline?
The answer could come when they play the 8-2 Buffalo Bills on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS). Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is among the Chiefs aware that they need to play better this week than they did against the Broncos.
“We know next week is going to be a big challenge,” Mahomes said. “Buffalo is playing great football. They’ve been playing great football for a while now and we understand what it takes to go into an environment like that and have to give everything to get a win. We know they’re going to be passionate and try to beat us, so that we will have to execute at a higher level to win.”
Their once-powerful offense hasn’t been as productive, but the Chiefs are 10th in yards (346.7 per game) and 11th in points (24.3). Their defense isn’t strangling their opponents, but it is fourth in yards (289.9) and fifth in points allowed (17.9).
The Kansas City Chiefs are off to a 9-0 start for the first time in 2013. If they beat the Buffalo Bills and finish 10-0, it will be the franchise’s best start. Images by Denny Medley-Imagn
What the Chiefs have done is find multiple ways to win. They held the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL’s highest-scoring team, to 20 points in the season opener, their lowest total of the season. They returned a fumble for a defensive touchdown in a one-point win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Against the Atlanta Falcons, the Chiefs stopped them twice on attempts inside the 15-yard line in the fourth quarter to preserve a five-point victory. They held the Los Angeles Chargers scoreless in their final eight possessions. Mahomes passed for a season-high 331 yards against the New Orleans Saints. They rushed for 182 yards against the San Francisco 49ers.
Against the Las Vegas Raiders, they were 12 of 16 on third down and 3 of 4 in the red zone. They scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and another in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Finally, perhaps most dramatic of all, linebacker Leo Chenal blocked the field goal against the Broncos.
“We’re a really good football team and a team where whatever it takes that day, guys are going to step up and make the play,” Mahomes said. “If it’s defense, if it’s offense, if it’s special teams and each individual in those situations, they’re going to…make that play every time their number is called.
“Being able to go in each and every week knowing that no matter what it takes, we’re going to find a way to win the football game, it comes with experience and it comes with a great culture that we’ve built here.” ‘
Kansas City has been lucky at times. Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely appeared to score a touchdown on the final play of the season opener that would have allowed the Ravens to take the game to overtime or win it with a successful 2-point conversion. But a replay review showed Likely had a toe on the line beyond the end zone and was stripped of the touchdown.
Against the Bucs, the Chiefs won the coin toss in overtime and proceeded to score a touchdown, without giving Tampa Bay any chance with the ball.
The blocked field goal was anything but fortunate. The Chiefs believed the Broncos would pay attention to safety Justin Reid coming off the edge on Denver’s left side, but would leave an opening closer to center. Then they collided in that area with several players and Chenal got a hand on him, the ball deflected harmlessly toward the sideline, where Chiefs cornerback Josh Williams recovered.
Chenal also blocked a point after a touchdown last year in the Super Bowl, a game the Chiefs won over the 49ers in overtime.
“Of course we have a lot of talented players and a lot of talented guys coming in, but I think it speaks to the system, the culture that we have throughout the week,” Williams said. [the coaches] Don’t miss the beat. They don’t miss anything. You will receive training on everything and [that] led us to this undefeated record so far. It allows us to win in all three phases.”
The Chiefs planned to return to the big-play passing game they had in Mahomes’ first seasons after signing free agent wide receiver Hollywood Brown and drafting wide receiver Xavier Worthy in the first round this year.
But after losing Brown in the preseason and last season’s leading wide receiver, Rashee Rice, early in the season, the Chiefs switched to an offense that relies heavily on the running game. Kansas City ranks 11th in rushing attempts. He was not higher than 20th in rushing attempts in any of the previous seasons.
Kareem Hunt, who didn’t play for the Chiefs until Week 4 against the Chargers, had two 100-yard games and is tied with Worthy for the team lead in touchdowns with five.
“The last few weeks we’ve been running the ball a lot,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “I feel like a bit of identity is being created here.
“It hasn’t been fantasy numbers on offense, [but] The only thing is that we are winning games and I think we are learning to win games in different ways. “That’s very important when you advance in other games.”
The Chiefs have gone 9-0 once before under Reid: in 2013, his first season as their head coach. But from there, things collapsed and they went 2-5 to end the season. In the wild card round, they blew a 28-point lead and lost to the Indianapolis Colts.
The 2013 Chiefs took advantage of an easy opening schedule. They played one game against an eventual playoff team in their first nine games, but then played five playoff teams. They lost all five.
This year’s Chiefs have played four games against teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. They have five such games left.
It seems unlikely that the Chiefs can get to 17-0 and finish an NFL regular season undefeated for the first time since the New England Patriots in 2007. But it also seems unlikely that they can get to 9-0 with such narrow margins, and we are more from the middle of the road.
“Our ability with the injuries we’ve had to just connect pieces and keep them moving shows the genius of what Coach Reid can do and what his offense can do and how we’ve moved to a more run-first approach,” said running back Samaje Perine. “People are used to seeing Pat just express it, but that’s not who we are right now.
“But we keep finding ways to win.”
