Instant analysis of Chiefs’ Week 14 win over Broncos
Everything was coming up Kansas City Chiefs in the early goings of this game, but as we all know that nothing can ever be easy for this particular team. Riding high at 27-0 with under three minutes to go until halftime, some costly interceptions flipped this game on its head. They allowed the Denver Broncos back into the game and made things uneasy down the stretch.
So what else did we learn about the Chiefs in their latest game?
Final Score: Chiefs 34, Broncos 28
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The defense allowing a season-high 28 points to the lowest-scoring offense in the league tells you that they have some big problems to fix on that side of the ball. Perhaps more concerning was Patrick Mahomes’ struggles with turnovers. He had three interceptions, including two to Broncos LB Josey Jewell across the middle of the field. That’s something that he’s going to want to clean up moving forward, not just for his MVP candidacy, but also for the playoffs. Despite the bad, and there was plenty of it, the Chiefs have now beaten Denver in 14 consecutive games. They’ve notched 10 or more wins for eighth consecutive season and have kept pace with the Buffalo Bills.
Weekly Awards
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Chiefs Wire Game Ball: RB Jerick McKinnon
Harrison Butker Rookie of the Game: DE George Karlaftis
Casey Wiegmann Veteran of the Game: DT Chris Jones
Jamaal Charles Offensive Player of the Game: WR JuJu Smith-Schuster
Bobby Bell Defensive Player of the Game: LB Willie Gay Jr.
Morten Andersen Special Teams Player of the Game: K Harrison Butker
Otis Taylor Play of the Game: Patrick Mahomes’ no-look toss to RB Jerick McKinnon.
Wesley Roesch Stat of the Game: Broncos 6-of-17 on third down.
Quick-hitting observations and analysis
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Starting with one of the great things in this game — Travis Kelce. We’re witnessing greatness incarnate every week. His reaching 10,000 career receiving yards and 1,000 yards for the seventh consecutive season is more proof of it.
Settling for two field goals when you had a fourth-and-3 and a fourth-and-4 felt like a mistake. The reward outweighs failure there in most cases. It tells me that the coaching staff doesn’t have a lot of faith in the defense after Week 13’s loss to the Bengals.
Patrick Mahomes made a little magic happen in Week 14, but it was followed by three costly turnovers. He threw two interceptions in the first half and both directly led to 14 points scored by Denver. This is the eighth consecutive week with a turnover for Kansas City. It’s a streak that won’t be sustainable going forward when they reach the win-or-go-home games.
Surrendering 21 points to the lowest-scoring offense in the NFL in a span of five minutes is a massive indictment of the Chiefs’ defense. The Broncos have only scored 21 or more points twice prior to this game. The defense has to improve a lot and fast or they’re going to be the downfall of this team come playoff time.
One area where the Chiefs did show improvement on the defensive side of the ball this week was pressure. They managed six sacks through three quarters of play after a single sack a week ago. It really helped the team maintain a lead through halftime.
Willie Gay Jr. had some really great pass deflections today, including one that he deflected to himself for a pick-six. He’s starting to look a lot more comfortable in his role this season than he did earlier in the year.
Offensive play-calling was a little questionable late in the first half and early in the second half. A pair of third-and-short throws were the most questionable. One was a botched play and the other simply should have been a run.
Jerick McKinnon carried the team on offense today. He really found success in the screen game that we haven’t seen from a running back in a long time. His role in scoring points today was really needed given how the Chiefs have struggled in the red zone without Kadarius Toney and Mecole Hardman.
The fact that the Chiefs were so unwilling to double-cover Jerry Jeudy at any point in the game with backups at every other receiver spot was sheer madness.
JuJu Smith-Schuster is finally starting to look like himself after his concussion a few weeks back. He’s more involved in the game plan and making a big impact.
Isiah Pacheco had 13 attempts for 70 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. That included the game-icing first-down run. He’s getting better with every passing week and continues to be a big part of what they’re doing offensively. Now, if they’d just trust him on third-and-short situations.
Another indictment of the defensive situation — The Chiefs’ defense allowed a first down when they had the Broncos in second-and-34 two plays prior. They accepted a 10-yard penalty to make it second-and-34 instead of third-and-24, perhaps a big coaching error. This defense does some good things, but they can’t seem to stack enough of them at times.
All-in-all this was an ugly game that exposed some more flaws on both sides of the ball, but they stuck together and managed to grind out a win. That’s commendable. This team is hardly perfect and they’re learning every week. They need to continue working on a number of things as we get deeper into the regular season and closer to the postseason.
Up next:
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In the final game of a three-game road stretch, the Chiefs will face the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. This is the worst remaining opponent on the team’s schedule and one of just two NFL teams with double-digit losses along with the Broncos. The Texans made things interesting against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.
