Around the AFC West: Chiefs hope to build on recent division wins
By Ellen Mathis
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs hosted division rival Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon. It was a windy and cold day in Kansas City (which never bodes well for Derek Carr). The Chiefs needed this game to place a stranglehold on the AFC West, and the Raiders needed the win to keep their hopes of taking the division alive. Only one team showed up.
The Chiefs defense made a decisive statement holding the Raiders without a touchdown until the final moments of the game. They also recorded an interception in a second consecutive game from Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill found the end zone on his first pick-six. The defensive line made Carr miserable while the secondary shut down wide receivers.
The special teams unit stepped up as well. Dorian O’Daniel recovered a kickoff fumble that was forced by rookie Rashad Fenton. Charvarius Ward returned a point after attempt that was blocked by Tanoh Kpassagnon. This group had been largely criticized this year, and they must have heard something.
The Chiefs offense had a relatively quiet day. Patrick Mahomes threw for relatively few yards, but it wasn’t necessary. With the defense and special teams playing as well as they did, the offense didn’t have to put up amazing plays. Travis Kelce had a great day coming up with some clutch catches; Tyreek Hill was his spectacularly fast self. The surprise standout was Darwin Thompson who came in to ice the game. He delivered tough runs that kept the clock running and the chains moving at the end of the game. It was certainly needed and showed that maybe the Chiefs do have a late game running back that ices games.
The Chiefs did have some injuries in the game that are worth monitoring as they look forward to Week 14. Rashad Fenton left the game with a hamstring injury and Frank Clark is nursing a shoulder injury. Most notably, running back Darrel Williams was placed on injured reserve after suffering a bad hamstring injury. The already depleted running back room has taken some hits so this will be important to watch.
Next week, the Chiefs travel to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots. So many Chiefs fans had this game circled since the schedule came out. The Patriots look vulnerable on the offensive side of the ball but their defense is no joke (although recently, against high powered offenses, they have given up a lot of yards). Regardless, this is going to be a tough, tough game. This is the test for the Chiefs.
I don’t know if I have a prediction for how it goes, but I am certainly hopeful that the Chiefs can put together another outstanding performance.
Opening line odds for the Chiefs in Week 14: +3.0.
Game time is 3:25 p.m.