Around the AFC West: Are the Raiders figuring it out?

Kansas City Chiefs

Well, let’s get into the horrible game that was Sunday’s match against the Bengals. Look, I still think the Chiefs are the better team. I think they have the better quarterback and the better coach and that is what matters. However, you can’t make mistakes against really good football teams and expect to walk away with a win. People will probably say it was good for the Chiefs to get this loss out of their system, but the same thing happened last year—and we know where the Chiefs didn’t go and the Bengals did.

At the end of the day, the defense has to play better. You can’t let them gash you on the ground, give up penalties, and let Joe Burrow have all day in the pocket. He sat back there knitting sweaters all afternoon. It isn’t good enough.

The offense was bad too. Mahomes missed open receivers, drops happened, and the Kelce fumble changed the game. On special teams, Butker has to hit that field goal. Do I think we win if he makes it? No, the defense was a sieve, but you can’t miss those. Even the coaching was subpar.

Everyone needed to better. If you can’t get up for a huge game like that, can you do it in the playoffs?

The bright side, however, I think was still the play of Isiah Pacheco. He really is coming into his own. I can’t get over his energy and I love what he brings to the team.

I also think our cornerbacks did well against an incredible strong receiving core of the Bengals. McDuffie in particular held his own against Ja’Marr Chase. That is a big ask for a young corner and he did well. It gives me hope for years to come.

Next week, the Chiefs could sleepwalk through the game and probably still win. I hope they don’t. I would like to see a Cowboys/Colts-esque thrashing on Sunday afternoon to get the Chiefs out of their funk. Honestly, if they don’t win by two touchdowns, I might view it as a technical victory but an overall bad day. Here’s hoping the Chiefs get back to form and round out the season on a high note.