We begin with two truths.
The Cleveland Browns can beat the Chiefs.
Beating the Chiefs is really, really, really hard.
It requires the right mixture of talent, confidence and luck. The Browns have the first, they're working on the second and had none of the third in what eventually turned into a 33-29 win by the Chiefs in the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
The Browns believe this is their year to end the Chiefs' two-year stranglehold on the AFC. They come armed with some intriguing pieces — a terrific offensive line, good skill position talent, and one of the league's best pass rushers — but at least on this day ran into the reality that beating the Chiefs requires navigating heavy traffic blindfolded with a time bomb under the hood.
The Chiefs are flawed but spectacular, vulnerable but resilient. They trailed by 12 at halftime and by two possessions into the fourth quarter but made this old building rock with series of game-shifting plays, each seemingly leading to the next — Juan Thornhill forced a fumble by Nick Chubb, Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill turned a broken play into a 75-yard touchdown, a Browns punt turned into a disaster, all the way until Mike Hughes made the game-sealing interception with 1:09 left.
Mahomes' 20-0 goal technically remains possible, but 20-0 was never the real goal. Mahomes' purpose in saying that — and he's explained as much to reporters since — was to course-correct what he saw as a culture that too often was about doing just enough to win last year.
That's not good enough for the ambitions of the league's best player, who wants a different standard — win every practice, every film meeting, every snap. He wants to work in an environment that's concentrated entirely on the work, not the result, with the faith that the former will take care of the latter.
The Chiefs had imperfections in this game — most notably at the line of scrimmage — but this collection of coaches and talent have too many ways to break the dam.
If we have a playoff rematch the lessons from this afternoon will resonate.
The Browns bossed the line of scrimmage. Football is a complicated game, and part of the fun in watching is trying to figure out where the pieces fit. But, sometimes it's just simple. Sometimes it's about strength.
The Browns scored a touchdown on their first three possessions, a streak that ended only on a drive that began at their own 1 with less than 2 minutes left, and even that one had some scary moments. The Chubb fumble was the Browns' first major mistake.
The Chiefs' new offensive line was ... OK? They had some of the expected ugly moments, particularly with communication. Jadeveon Clowney was left unblocked on one play, wrecking a backfield pass to Tyreek Hill. Myles Garrett got through on a stunt and on another snap just ran around new left tackle Orlando Brown and straight toward Patrick Mahomes.
But overall? Not terrible. Not noticeably improved from last year when a more familiar line was still healthy, but also not the biggest problem. Not close.
The Browns did whatever the heck they pleased on offense, which included showing the Chiefs defense zero respect on fourth downs. The Browns went for their first three, converting all, and even went for a two-point conversion after a penalty moved the try closer to the goal line.
The Browns finished the first half averaging 9.9 yards per play. Chubb scored a touchdown by running in a straight line through a hole as wide as a lake. Baker Mayfield had little reason to worry himself with the Chiefs pass rush, which was consistently stymied not far from the line of scrimmage before Jones made a key sack on a third down in the fourth quarter.
Tyrann Mathieu should download the film on a thumb drive, put in an envelope, and in big black Sharpie write CONTRACT NEGOTIATION and drop it on GM Brett Veach's desk.
The Chiefs had a lot of problems in this game, particularly on defense. Frank Clark did not play. Neither did DeAndre Baker. But there was little organization, lots of confusion and not enough of a playmaking threat without Mathieu on the field.
If anyone has doubts about whether those intangibles so many of us talk about with Mathieu are legit, they should be required by law to watch the Chiefs' defensive snaps from Sunday and compare them to last January's playoff game.
With any luck, we'll have one more playoff game to watch between these two teams. How much fun would that be?
