Kansas City Chiefs: The Day After Beating Oakland in Week 14

After losing four straight games and six of seven, The Oakland Raiders proved to be the remedy that the Kansas City Chiefs needed.

The weather changed just a bit when Chiefs Kingdom let out an exhausted sigh of relief Sunday. Their beloved Kansas City Chiefs looked remotely like the Chiefs they knew they could be. It has been a rough couple of months for the fans, who at one point were fans of arguably the best team in the NFL.

The temperament of the fan base has been on a roller coaster of emotion. Ups and downs and all around confusion has been put a dark cloud over the Chiefs. Fans have lashed out at certain players and coaches, suspensions have been dealt, divisions nearly lost and excuses at every corner.

We have seen the downfall reach very deep lows. Talk of coach Andy Reid needing to go, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton needing fired (still on the table), Alex Smith getting booed, Marcus Peters getting chased out of town, etc. A win can heal wounds, not all wounds, but some.

The Chiefs were able to hold Oakland scoreless for much of the game, becoming that ever-popular thorn in Derek Carr’s rear-end once again. The Chiefs running game was able to get back in the swing of things as numbers not seen since week seven were achieved once again. Oakland gave the Chiefs and their fans, including myself, reason to smile once again.

There are still deep issues with this 2017 team however. The same Jets that beat the Chiefs last week got shut out in Denver this week. The season has gone from smooth ride to bumpy road. The Chargers seem to have found that smooth strip of highway for now. Let’s look at what happened on Sunday afternoon.

The running game

Yes! The running game! Yes, Virginia, there is a Chiefs running game! Earlier in the week on The Blitz Package podcast, Britt Zank mentioned that Kareem Hunt would have to have 20+ rushes to win the game, check! Kareem Hunt looked like the running back that made history early on in the season. He had a sidekick in the running game as well in Charcandrick West, in his first game back since a death in his family.

Hunt had 25 carries, 116 yards and his first touchdown since week three. Hunt also eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark for the season in rushing yards. West added three carries for 25 yards and a powerful, athletic score on a 13 yard rush. The Chiefs clearly focused on running the ball more against Oakland. The offensive line made impressive pushes off the line of scrimmage to create large holes for both backs to run through all game. For one game, the Chiefs looked like the Chiefs on the ground.

Peters’less Defense

The suspension of Marcus Peters got much ire from yours truly last week. On behalf of your truly, I was wrong. The defense looked just fine without him. Guys stepped up and made plays. Plays being made has been scarce to say the least for a couple of months now. The defense played well earlier in the losing streak, holding the Giants to nine regulation points and the Bills to 16 (both with Peters). This game may be the first game where both sides played well.

Chris Jones woke up from his season long hibernation and attacked with killer instinct. He finished with a sack, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. One of which caused Carr’s pass to fly high in the air allowing Terrance Mitchell to intercept the pass. Mitchell had a solid game playing on Peters side.

The Raiders were held without a point until less than nine minutes remained. The secondary played wonderful compared to what they’ve done the rest of the season. Steven Terrell came up with an interception on the Raiders last possession and Frank Zombo recovered a fumble caused by Steven Nelson, who had a nice rebound game after last week’s performance. Kansas City dominated Carr for three plus quarters.

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Not good enough

Harrison Butker knocked in all four of his field goal tries, which is what has come to be expected. The fact that he had four tries is still not good enough to beat good teams. The Chiefs must find a way to get into the end zone. Settling for field goals has never, ever won a team a Super Bowl, let alone get them there.

Next Saturday night the Chiefs get a prime time fight with the Los Angeles Chargers for first place in the West. Both teams are 7-6 with the Chiefs holding the tie breaker as of now. That will change one way or the other next week. The way the Chargers have been playing, the Chiefs can not afford to settle for field goals, especially when they reach the red zone.

Next: Top 15 Chiefs in rushing yards

Look for new play caller Matt Nagy to ask permission from Andy Reid to install some game breaking plays on offense. Here is hoping the defense can keep the momentum up for at least one more game, as this is more than likely the Chiefs season hanging in the balance. Heart, determination, and true grit will be a must against the division foe. Every game is a playoff game from here on out.