Around the AFC West: Chiefs maintain supremacy atop division

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs traveled to Mexico City for a Monday Night Football showdown with the Los Angeles Chargers. This was a true battle for the AFC West. The Chargers were looking to keep their hopes of a playoff berth alive while the Chiefs were looking to keep their grasp of first in the division. The story of the game was the Chiefs defense. The defense carried the offense to a huge divisional win.

This was the worst game, statistically speaking, of Patrick Mahomes’ career, but the defense logged four interceptions to drag the offense to victory. Even though the defense was littered with injuries and depth was questionable, the gassed unit made it happen. Travis Kelce came up huge to help the offense with a couple incredible catches (one a touchdown) and he was the security blanket on third down. If the Mahomes’ led offense we believe in and the defense that showed up on Monday could show up to a game together, this team might just be unstoppable. Here’s hoping that happens.

This feels like it has become a “same story different day” type situation when I start talking about injuries, but alas, injuries were again, not a friend of the Chiefs. Early in the game (on a field that was questionable), Tyreek Hill came up limping. The Chiefs medical staff quickly went to work on his right hamstring, but he never saw the field again. Andy Reid reported after the game that it was a hamstring strain. Here’s hoping it was an abundance of caution that kept him off the filed and not something that will linger. Additionally, Austin Reiter went down with what appeared to be a wrist injury but was later revealed to be a concussion evaluation. He was cleared and returned to the game.

Jordan Lucas was ruled out of the game after a shoulder injury. His status is still unknown. Perhaps what was most troubling, however, were the injuries the backfield sustained. Damian Williams went down, clearly in a lot of pain, and was ruled out with a rib injury. Additionally, LeSean McCoy left the game after he had to be evaluated for a concussion. Luckily Darrel Williams was able to fill in, but it causes some heartburn that a weak position just took a bunch of hits.

Hopefully, this injury section will be obsolete in a short amount of time as the Chiefs are entering their much needed bye week. This will give them time to get the offense back to clicking, hopefully fix problems with penalties, and most importantly, give players the opportunity to get healthy for a late push. With a couple players coming back from injury this week (Eric Fisher, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif), this will be a much needed rest.

Looking ahead, the Chiefs will have a tough AFC West divisional game at Arrowhead against the Raiders after their bye. If the Chiefs win, they will have a firm grasp on the AFC West, but a loss puts even their chances at the playoffs in question. Here’s hoping this bye week provides not only a chance to rest and heal, but also a chance to regroup and refocus. The Chiefs will need that. I do expect to see the return of Kendall Fuller and Alex Okafor after the bye which will certainly help, but I hope to also see a healthy Hill, Williams, and McCoy as well.