FOXBOROUGH, Mass. _ This is a really weird thing to think let alone write but they say trust your eyes so here goes:
The Chiefs just beat the Patriots 23-16, becoming the first visiting team to win here in more than two years, and really didn't play all that well.
Look, the win is what matters. We're adults. We understand that.
Beating the Patriots has been a significant achievement in the NFL for two decades, so we're not trying to throw water on the party here. The Chiefs beat the reigning Super Bowl champions, and maintained (faint) hope for a first round bye.
They have not lost in nearly a month. They will be favored in each of their last three regular season games.
These are all good things.
But.
They were called for well over 100 yards worth of penalties.
Patrick Mahomes threw a bad interception.
Special teams had a punt blocked and, really, the protection was so bad that either of two Patriots could've blocked it.
The offense essentially played nothing but dead after midway through the second quarter.
Travis Kelce caught a pass on third down, ran behind the point he needed for a first down, and then fumbled. What's even worse, the Chiefs caught a significant break on the play because the refs ruled the play dead in real time. If they hadn't, the Patriots likely would've scored a touchdown on the return.
The Chiefs found themselves in the rarest of NFL situations _ benefitting from bad calls at Gillette Stadium. Not just Kelce's fumble, but a later touchdown run erroneously called out of bounds and an obvious pass interference or two missed.
One more time: they won. That's good. That's all that matters.
But there will be plenty of spots for improvement to talk about, too.
Because here's another weird thing to think, let alone write: the performance that just won in Gillette Stadium won't be good enough to get to the Super Bowl.
