The 2024 Kansas City Chiefs had a fantastic 15-2 regular season record. However, those wins frequently came down to the wire, even against inferior or beat-up opponents. Ten of their 15 wins were one-score games, and five of those were by a field goal or less. The Chiefs only had three wins all season by 13 points or more. This season has been a different story. While they already have one more loss than last season, they've also already surpassed their number of wins by 13 points or more, with all four of KC's wins coming convincingly.
Particularly noteworthy are KC's wins against the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders. Both teams were battling key injuries and had losing records coming into their games vs KC. The Chiefs handed the Ravens a 37-20 beatdown and completely dismantled the struggling Raiders 31-0. Both games were unlike anything we saw from the Chiefs in 2024 where it seemed like every game was an ugly fight to the final play.
For example, the Chiefs had to eke out a 19-17 win over the Raiders in Arrowhead last season. The Raiders went into that game with a 2-9 record and were starting Aidan O'Connell at quarterback and Sincere McCormick at running back. O'Connell passed for 340 yards and two touchdowns, and the Chiefs needed a fourth-quarter field goal to pull the game out. The Chiefs may have been the least opportunistic 15-2 team the NFL has ever seen.
Thankfully, it is starting to seem like the 2025 version of the Chiefs has the ability to do just that. While there were some disappointing losses early on, as KC has gotten healthier they have begun to show the ability to take advantage of other teams' injuries or shortcomings and put them away. Now the Washington Commanders limp into town for Monday Night Football, and the Chiefs need to take advantage once again.
The Chiefs are showing a killer instinct this season that was missing in 2024.
The Commanders were the surprise of the NFL last season, riding the immediate success of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels all the way to the NFC Championship Game. However, this season, the Commanders have battled numerous injuries and struggled to replicate their success from last season. While the Commanders are starting to get their beat-up receiving group back on the field, they now find themselves without their star quarterback for this matchup with the Chiefs.
The Commanders have dropped two games in a row and have lost three of their last four, and now have to travel to Arrowhead to play one of the hottest teams in the NFL without Jayden Daniels. Last season that wouldn't have mattered and the game would have likely come down to the last possession. This season the Chiefs have shown more of a killer instinct, and Kansas City fans have to hope that they will once again take advantage of a golden opportunity to put another convincing win on the board.
Patrick Mahomes has looked like the favorite to win another MVP in recent weeks. If he can continue to play well in this matchup and the Commanders get down early and don't have their star quarterback to help keep pace, it isn't unreasonable to think that the Commanders could lose hope and the Chiefs could roll to another convincing win. If that happens, it will be a promising sign that maybe this year's version of the Chiefs has the killer instinct that had been lacking last season.