The Kansas City Chiefs picked up the win but the Los Angeles Rams might claim a bit of a moral victory after falling at Arrowhead by a final score of 26-10.
Coming into Week 12, the Rams weren’t expected to put up much of a fight against the Chiefs given the miserable year they are having following their Super Bowl win a year ago. At 3-7, the Rams are a shell of their former selves and that’s before they also lost Matthew Stafford to injury.
To their credit, however, Aaron Donald led a nice defensive effort by the Rams that clearly had the Chiefs scratching their heads (or trying to get cute) in the red zone and the score was much closer than it should have been given the differences in the offensive units pitted against each other on Sunday.
Let’s take a look at some of the lessons we can learn from the Chiefs in a largely forgettable performance against the Rams.
What’s up in the red zone?
Coming into the game, the Chiefs were the most dangerous team in the red zone in the entire NFL. Against the L.A. Rams on Sunday, the Chiefs seemed like they couldn’t do anything in the red zone even when given multiple opportunities.
At times, the Rams defense put up considerable pressure. At other times, the Chiefs just looked shaky and nervous. Whatever it was, the Chiefs were rattled enough to resort to a series of short field goals to put away L.A. instead of racking up more points and putting away a clearly lesser talented team at home in Week 12.
There was one very frustrating series of plays in the fourth quarter in which Mahomes was off on some throws and the run game couldn’t move the ball. Mahomes even threw an interception to Rams defensive back Nick Scott in the end zone to end one series but was quickly given a new set of downs at the goal line when L’Jarius Sneed bailed him out by picking off Bryce Perkins two plays later. Unfortunately, two more stuffed runs and an errant pass to Travis Kelce left the Chiefs with another chip shot of a field goal for Harrison Butker.
While the Rams’ defense was very good on Sunday overall and Aaron Donald reminded the road crowd why he’s considered the best at his position, there was something more at work. Some plays called were odd. The o-line looked overmatched without Joe Thuney at times. Mahomes seemed out of rhythm when it mattered the most.
It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs continue to struggle or get back into the groove when they head back out on the road in Week 13.