KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They were a dynasty and then they were broken and then they at least didn’t stink anymore and now …
The Chiefs are amazing again?
They turned the NFL’s biggest game of the week into a nationally televised statement with a 19-9 victory over the Cowboys, who were in position as the NFC’s top seed.
A week after the Chiefs played their game of the season against a team holding a playoff spot at the time, their defense played its best game of the season. A three-game stretch that at one point looked intimidating before morphing into defining has been conquered with wins over the Packers, Raiders and Cowboys.
Get this: the Chiefs defense has given up 47 points in the last 18 quarters, going back to halftime of the Tennessee game.
Chris Jones had 3 1/2 sacks, leading a defensive front that often overwhelmed one of the league’s best offensive lines (though the Cowboys were missing left tackle Tyron Smith). The coverage behind was spectacular, with L’Jarius Sneed again playing like a star (including the game icing interception) and Charvarius Ward holding up well against multiple shots downfield.
Ward’s interception in one-on-one coverage on a deep ball to CeeDee Lamb was one of the best plays of his career.
The wild part is the Chiefs are leading the AFC West and only the Titans — who lost to the sorry Texans on Sunday — have more wins in the conference and you get this stubborn feeling that the Chiefs are only scratching the surface.
The wilder part is that the room for improvement is almost exclusively with the offense. The receivers again had a problem with drops, most critically when a pass bounced off Travis Kelce’s hands for an interception. That is at least the fifth of Mahomes’ 11 interceptions that bounced off the body of a receiver.
The offense also had drives stall with poor execution, some issues against the Cowboys’ front, and once when Trey Smith followed a holding penalty with a personal foul. The Chiefs just have to be better, and more consistent.
Based on the personnel, coaches, and Raiders game, the guess here is that they will.
Beating the Cowboys is significant. It is, without question, the best win on the Chiefs’ schedule, a wire-to-wire victory against one of the league’s most credible Super Bowl contenders.
The Chiefs’ struggles have come largely against other AFC teams, and the Packers looked lost on offense without Aaron Rodgers. So beating one of the league’s best teams is the strongest argument the Chiefs have.
This is all setting up so well for the Chiefs. They’ll get Thanksgiving week off, with Andy Reid’s well-documented history of pushing his team forward after a bye. The road game against the Chargers on a Thursday night will be tough, but the Chiefs are likely to be favored in each of their other six games.
A 12-5 regular season doesn’t take that much dreaming. A 13-4 finish is on the table.
The Chiefs can still make whatever they want out of this season. Somehow.
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