KC Chiefs: Five things we learned in week 14 win vs Patriots

The KC Chiefs knocked off the defending champs in Foxboro on Sunday evening. What did we learn from this game?

AFC WEST CHAMPS! What a clincher that game was. In a place that is near impossible to win, the Kansas City Chiefs pulled it off in dramatic fashion and clinched their fourth straight AFC West Championship. It wasn’t pretty near the end, but that doesn’t matter.

Let’s break this thing down.

Benefactors of Calls

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Okay, we have to talk have the officiating in this game. It was all over the place to be blunt, but the calls evened out. Of course, the Patriots are going to get some questionable calls at home, that is just how it is.

The Chiefs also benefitted from some missed calls as well, such as a missed touchdown from New England that would have made it a three point game. Now there was a bad OPI call on Travis Kelce and a non-call on a Patriots defender who hit Patrick Mahomes as he was running out of bounds, but it was even in terms of calls.

Still, it doesn’t change my opinion that the refs need to change wholesale and bring in all new blood.

Another Team Win

For the second week in a row, all three phases of the game did their job. The offense scored points, the defense played extremely well, and the special teams had another blocked kick.

The Chiefs can win a lot of games with this mentality. We have been waiting for the Chiefs defense to get their stuff together and boy did they do so on Sunday. The offense sputtered near the end, but they scored the points needed to win.

In regards to the special teams, outside of the blocked punt, they did their job. It wasn’t pretty, but I would win ugly all the way to the Super Bowl.

Getting things ready

With the AFC West locked up, the KC Chiefs can really focus on getting ready for the playoffs. Now the Chiefs are not out of a bye but personally, they should focus on tuning up the fundamentals and preparing for the real test.

The three teams the Chiefs have left are beatable, but shouldn’t be underestimated. These next few weeks should be really fun to watch and less stressful compared to the last several. I don’t expect Andy Reid to rest any starters until week 17 assuming they aren’t locked into a particular seed, but don’t be surprised if certain guys get rotated in and out depending on the situation.

Verge of Greatness

Usually, when Chiefs fans talk about greatness on the field these days, they are referring to Patrick Mahomes. For this game, we talk about Travis Kelce.

Not only did Kelce play well outside of the fumble, but he is also on the verge of doing something that has never been done before. With 11 yards over these next three weeks, he will have four straight 1,000 yard seasons. That has never been done before in the NFL at the tight end position.

There have been some great tight ends the last couple of decades, but none of done this. We are talking about the likes of Shannon Sharpe, Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, and Rob Gronkowski. This shouldn’t be swept under the rug and should almost solidify Travis Kelce as one of the best ever to play the position.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1204151231389691904

Is it fixed?

The defense finally got their stuff together and is starting to gel. Look, the Patriots offense isn’t very good, this much we know. The team as a whole has lived on a weak schedule and playing great defense.

On the other side of the coin, it is still Tom Brady. The Chiefs are also a team that has made bad offenses look good in the last few years. The defense has only been giving up around 14 points per game in the last three weeks. That is really good in case you were wondering.

There are some kinks to work out, but this isn’t the same defense we saw a few weeks ago. I’m not going to say the defense is fixed completely, but if the Chiefs had this defense last year, they more than likely win the Super Bowl.

Conclusions

Winning in Foxboro is not easy. The Patriots are a completely different team at home and the Chiefs have two wins in three tries under Andy Reid. That is pretty good considering the Patriots record at home under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

The defense played well, and the Chiefs offense has some kinks to work out, but this was a great win. The Chiefs under Andy Reid have never had a losing season.

The Kansas City Chiefs have won now four straight AFC West titles. Nothing can top that, but as the shirts say, “The West Is Not Enough”.