Chiefs Clinch a Playoff Spot in Blowout Against the Raiders

December 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (25) celebrates after scoring a 71-yard touchdown during the third quarter against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Chiefs are in the playoffs. Yes, you read that right. The Chiefs have secured a playoff spot for the first time since 2010 when they won the AFC West.

The best part: They didn’t rely on another team to win or lose or tie to make it happen. They went into the “Black Hole” of the Oakland County Collesium and took it. In a big way.

This team hung 56 points on the Oakland Raiders.

But believe it or not, it didn’t come easy. In fact, there was a point in the third quarter where many Addicts watching the game and commenting on the Live Game Thread thought the Chiefs might lose the game.

The Chiefs started fast on offense and didn’t look back. The first play from scrimmage saw Alex Smith hit Jamaal Charles on a short screen pass. After that, Charles did what Charles does and took it 49 yards to the house. No big deal, right?

After a subsequent Raider field goal, the Chiefs got the ball. After a couple of great passes from Smith, he hit Charles on another screen pass. Charles took it 39 yards to the end zone for the second score of the game.

On the very next possession, safety Eric Berry read the rookie quarterback, Matt McGloin’s eyes, and stepped in front of a pass taking it 47 yards to the house.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

The Chiefs were pedal to the metal for the whole game. Well, at least the offense was.

The defense, on the other hand, had a little trouble stopping the Raiders. On the day, the Chiefs “D” allowed 461 yards of offense and gave up 31 points to the Raiders. Perhaps even more frightening, they went another game without a sack. Not getting the pass rush left the secondary on an island, which allowed the Raiders’ quarterbacks to chew them up.

I don’t want to be the Debbie Downer here though. The defense did some good things. The Chiefs defense came up with seven takeaways. Yes, you read that right. They had five interceptions and recovered two fumbles. Five of the seven turnovers resulted in points. That was 35 points created off of takeaways. The Chiefs lead the NFL in this category, by the way.

All in all, this was another statement win for the Chiefs. Was the defense as dominant as they were last week against the Washington Redskins? No, not all. But they did thing they had to do to win. It’s not what the fans have been used to the last 15 weeks, but it worked for today.

Jamaal Charles was the hero of the day, though. He had quite the pedestrian day rushing the ball, picking up only 20 yards on 8 attempts and a TD. But through the air, he was unstoppable. In addition to the two touchdowns mentioned above, Charles found the end zone two other times through the air. Charles on the day had a ridiculous 195 receiving yards, including a 71 yard strike on a wheel route. He hauled in four TDs through the air, becoming the first running back in the history of the NFL to do that.

Smith was anything but pedestrian on the day as well, throwing for 287 yards and only three of his passes falling incomplete. Not only did Smith’s first touchdown (on his first attempt) break his career season record with his 19th TD, but he didn’t stop until he broke a single game best with five TD’s, with the fifth score going to the “bearded one” tight end Sean McGrath.

This was the most dominant the Chiefs offense has looked all season. In fact, with the exception of about 10 minutes in the third quarter, they looked damn-near unstoppable.

This is what the world expected out of an Andy Reid run offense. It’s arrived. Just in time, too.

Ladies and gentlemen, and Addicts…the Chiefs are in the playoffs!