Chiefs’ Ugly Win Over Cowboys Was Beautiful

The Kansas City Chiefs matched their win total from 2012 yesterday when they defeated the Dallas Cowboys 17-16 at Arrowhead Stadium.

In the hours after the win, I have read a number of articles and comments that claimed that the win was “ugly” and “not pretty.”

Heck, even some of the Chiefs players were tooting that horn. Take a look at this exchange between a reporter and safety Kendrick Lewis  from Chiefs PR’s release of the post-game comments:

"It wasn’t pretty, but you got the win, right?“That’s how it goes – everything isn’t going to be kosher. As long as we stick together and play together, it will work out in our favor and that’s what we did.”"

I disagree that yesterday’s victory was ugly.

What is, pray tell, a “pretty” win?

I guess you could consider the Chiefs’ win last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars to be “pretty” though I think the more appropriate term would be “easy.” And it certainly wasn’t pretty for Jaguars fans. For goodness sake, a local Florida TV station actually apologized on air for showing the Jags, Raiders game this weekend, explaining that they were contractually obligated to show the hometown team.

If you enjoy football, yesterday’s game between the Chiefs and Cowboys was a treat. KC struggled on offense against a defense that forced an unheard of amount of turnovers the week before. Tony Romo and Dez Bryant straight up embarrassed Brandon Flowers in the first half. Despite falling behind, the KC defense stepped up and started creating turnovers to give their offense a chance to come back. The offense responded by putting together a crucial third quarter drive to take a lead that they would never relinquish.

That’s right, Alex Smith led the Chiefs on a 10-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a touchdown. Smith completed passes of 31, 10, 14 and 12 yards on the drive.

It looked damn pretty to me.

I think what folks mean when they describe yesterday’s game as “ugly” is “gritty.” It was a gritty game for both teams. Both teams fought like hell and what the fans got was an exciting game that wasn’t decided until the clock hit 0.

The Kansas City Chiefs proved a lot on Sunday. They proved that even when struggling, their offense could come up with a score when it needs one. They proved that their defense does not spook easily.

And they proved that Andy Reid has turned around what was the NFL’s worst team in 2012.

I have no idea what the future holds for this Chiefs team. I don’t think they are elite yet but yesterday’s win convinced me that they should be able to compete with a majority of the teams on their schedule.

And for a Kansas City fan base starved for a winner, that will do.

For now.