The Morse Minute: KC Chiefs nearly gave me a heart attack

After a very close win against the Tennessee Titans, here is what Greg Morse loved and hated about the Kansas City Chiefs game.

It’s time once again for the Morse Minute, where I give the observations about the things I loved and hated about the Kansas City Chiefs’ performance from the previous week.

In Week 9, the Chiefs took on the Tennessee Titans on Sunday Night Football, and, much to my chagrin, it was not an easy win—not even close. In fact, what we saw in the final minute of overtime, when the Chiefs mercilessly attacked the Titan’s poor rookie quarterback, is what I had hoped to see all night. Alas, that was not the case but it wasn’t for lack of trying on the defense’s part. On this night, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense struggled, and they struggled mightily.

Nonetheless, Mahomes quite literally carried the offense on his shoulders, arm, and legs, dragging them across the finish line and securing the win. But it didn’t really feel like that, did it?

What I loved

1. Travis Kelce get his 32nd 100-yard game. But it was close wasn’t it? Just two weeks ago he was 2-yards shy of tying Rob Gronkowski, and if it weren’t for an extra 10 minutes, he would have been 2-yards shy once again. But in overtime, Kelce secured the bag and caught an 8-yard pass that put him over the century mark. Hard to imagine he doesn’t break the record next week against the Jags, right?
2. The Chiefs defense took out 60 minutes worth of frustration in less than a minute. I’m not sure if Malik Willis will be a good quarterback or not. He didn’t have a great game on Sunday night. Luckily, Derrick Henry stood between him and the Chiefs’ pass rush for most of the night. But at the end of the game, needing to get 50-60 yards for a game-tying field goal, there was no more relying on the Titans’ All-World Running Back. And for four straight plays to end the game, the Chiefs’ D-Line let poor Willis have it.
3. Patrick Mahomes stole the Titans’ souls with an epic run again. You remember when this happened last time, don’t you? How could Chiefs Kingdom forget? It was the AFC Championship of their Super Bowl run, and similar to this game, the Chiefs had been trailing the Titans. And then Mahomes went on an epic run and plowed into the end zone. The late Perez Taylor called it the “Over my dead body.” play. And on Sunday night, Mahomes did it again.

What I hated

1. Harrison Butker had a classic ‘Almost cost us, but ultimately wins it for us’ game. Fellow AA writer Bransen Gibson wrote a great piece trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with Butker. As a bonafide Butker defender, even I’m starting to get headaches because of this dude. And yet, even though his missed kicks forced us into overtime, his kick won us the game.
2. The Chiefs offense looked like the Raiders’ offense for three quarters. Many in the Twittersphere astutely noted that losses by the Chiefs often look and feel the same. Weird turnovers, bizarre penalties, and terrible special teams. And this game had all of it. But worse than all that, it had an offense that put up over 500 yards of offense (98% of that due to Patrick Mahomes), and still only scored 20 points. Make it make sense.
3. The absolute lack of a running game. I’m biased because I have Isiah Pacheco on my fantasy team (but I’m not dumb, he rode the bench.) The utter lack of a running game is just ridiculous. And I get it, when you have the arm of Patrick Mahomes, why not just throw the ball for a near NFL single-game record? But that’s not sustainable. I think the Chiefs just need some consistency…and unfortunately, that probably means rolling with Pacheco and Jerrick McKinnon over Clyde Edward-Helaire. When fullbacks and tight ends are picking up down and inches, it’s time to move on.

What did you love and hate about the game this week? Let me know at @thegregmorse on Twitter.