MEXICO CITY _ They needed this. The Chiefs aren't suddenly headed to the Super Bowl and their problems when judged on that standard aren't fixed.
But: man, they needed this.
This story is a subscriber exclusive
They beat the Chargers 24-17 on a field that resembled a driving range's tee box in front of a thoroughly bonkers crowd here at Estadio Azteca Monday night.
They now have 13 days before their next game, which is against the Raiders and will be for first place in the AFC West.
The Chiefs were very Chiefsy in this one (lots of penalties, lots of mistakes, lots of missed opportunities), but the Chargers were at their Chargers-iest (lots of yards, lots of failures in the game's big moments).
The hope was that the Chiefs could get right against the Chargers, reclaim control of the AFC West and kickstart a late-season rush into the playoffs, where they could be the team nobody wants out of the wild-card round.
That last part still might happen, but it's hard to see the springboard coming from this game, except as some we-knew-we-had-to-get-better bounce-back after the bye week.
Really, the defense was better. That's a good place to start, and if you're looking for optimism it might be the only place to go.
The Chiefs kept the Chargers out of the end zone until the third quarter, and gifted the L.A. offense the first half's only touchdown when Tyrann Mathieu returned an interception to the 6.
And defensive end Frank Clark was dominant. Maybe this comes with the disclaimer of the Chargers having backups at both tackle positions, but he was a consistent problem, including twice getting to Philip Rivers and knocking the ball loose.
But that only goes so far. The Chiefs couldn't cover the Chargers' running backs in the passing game, and Mathieu missed what would've been a game-altering interception in the third quarter. Given another chance, the Chargers scored a touchdown and two-point conversion.
The Chiefs' offense had, perhaps, its worst game with Patrick Mahomes under center. Aside from the first two possessions after halftime, they were sloppy, self-destructive and out of sync.
There are worse things than being the kind of football team that can beat a worthy opponent while playing so far beneath its capabilities, but it's hard to see the Chiefs' path to the Super Bowl without some drastic improvement.
The Chargers made enough mistakes that this should've been a blowout.
The Chiefs need to be good enough to make it so.
They needed the win, but they're running out of time to get where they need to be.
