Around the AFC West: Chiefs clinch playoffs, Raiders survive Jets

Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Broncos on Sunday Night Football in their final showdown of the 2020 season. The Chiefs needed this game to clinch a playoff spot and to keep pace with the Steelers. They also needed the game to keep their march to another AFC West title.

This game was much tougher than it should have been. Credit to the Broncos for a good defensive plan. The Chiefs offense struggled to sustain drives on third down and too many balls from Mahomes were batted down. We’ve all seen and talked about Tyreek’s touchdown:

And this one:

My fantasy team suffered. Thanks a lot. But for me, the offensive story was Travis Kelce. He set more records than I can even list. Travis Kelce became the first tight end in NFL history to have a fifth 1,000-yard season on Sunday night. That is just incredible. He is heading to the Hall of fame, no doubt.

The other important part of the game was the defense. Tyrann Mathieu had 2 interceptions and the defense held the Broncos to just 16 points. They got some pressure on Drew Lock and certainly looked like they heard the complaints from fans. The Chiefs also had no new injuries to report although Clyde Edwards-Helaire did not play due to his bout with the flu. He should be back next week.

Next week, the Chiefs head to Miami (familiar) to play the Dolphins. Tua Tagovailoa has been up and down over the last few weeks but Brian Flores has the team playing well. They are also competing for a playoff spot and the division. The Dolphins defense is pretty good, too. This will be a good test for the Chiefs and hopefully they can pull off another win and get ever closer to the top seed in the AFC.