KC Chiefs: What we learned about the AFC West after Week 12

What did we learn about the KC Chiefs?

The matchup of the week was undoubtedly the Chiefs facing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late afternoon window. Patrick Mahomes squared off against Tom Brady for the fourth time in his career and evened the score with a 27-24 Chiefs victory.

The storyline of this game was most definitely Tyreek Hill’s performance, in particular, what he did in the first quarter of action. Hill had 203 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone and finished the day with 269 yards through the air and three trips into the end zone, giving him his first hat trick of the season.

Mahomes could have surpassed the 500-yard passing mark were it not for a Mecole Hardman drop in the second half that would have gone for 80+ yards. Still, Mahomes continued his red-hot ways and is far and away the front runner for the MVP and he did so in the stadium where the Super Bowl is to be held in February.

What we learned about the Chiefs is that this team can’t close out games and it’s led to some absolute nail-biters in the closing minutes. If the Chiefs continue to avoid stepping on the opposition’s throat, then we’re going to continue to see games come down to the wire and in the playoffs, that’ll be a very dangerous thing to flirt with.

Next up: The Chiefs return home to Arrowhead for the first time since Week 9 for a date with the Denver Broncos. For whatever reason, it was chosen as the Sunday night game, so yay.