The Kansas City Chiefs finally got their first win of the season. And while taking down the ever-struggling New York Giants in a game that ended with the home crowd booing Russell Wilson might not be the biggest reason to brag, the Chiefs took care of business.
Things won't get much easier next Sunday, as they will have another playoff-caliber contest with the Baltimore Ravens. However, after watching the Detroit Lions take them down on the road, they already have a blueprint.
Dan Campbell Sets the Bar For AFC Teams
Following the win, Lions Coach Dan Campbell shared an NSFW quote to motivate his players. Notably, he may also have taken a bit of a shot at the Ravens and all AFC contenders, including, obviously, the Chiefs:
“And now you know what the (expletive) barometer is like on the AFC," the former player said, according to Colton Pouncy. Saying that the Ravens are the new standard in the AFC could easily be interpreted as a shot at the Chiefs.
The Lions look like an absolute force in the NFC, but to talk about AFC teams, they need to win their own conference first. The Chiefs know what it takes to be the last team standing, and this should only provide more motivation for their meeting in Week 6.
Patrick Mahomes Says the Offense Needs to Clean Stuff Up
The Chiefs beat the Giants 22-9, but it was far from a flawless performance. They had to rely on some late-game heroics by Mahomes, who credited their defense and admitted that they still need to tweak things up on offense:
“Yeah. I mean, they've been playing great these last two weeks. They've played winning football," Mahomes said after the win. "And for us, we had to clean stuff up and get better. But they're playing good; they're playing tight coverage. They're rushing, they're blitzing, they're doing all type of different stuff that you're supposed to do as a winning defense. And so, for us, if they can continue to do that, and we can clean stuff up, we’ll win a lot of football games.”
The Chiefs will hope to have Xavier Worthy back on the field. In his absence, Tyquan Thornton has emerged as Mahomes' de facto big-play target, but they clearly have a big need for more reliable pass-catchers.
Even so, the running game might be the biggest key to dominate the Ravens. They gave up 224 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns, so if the Chiefs want to clean some stuff up on offense, they should start with that.
As of now, they're averaging just 108.0 rushing yards per game, but Mahomes is responsible for the bulk of that, and that's never a good sign for any team. This might be Isiah Pacheco's last chance to prove he's worth having around.