Close games are the NFL's norm, not a flaw for the Kansas City Chiefs

Let's be clear from the start: the Kansas City Chiefs unquestionably have flaws. Many of those concerns have been discussed in this very column. For more than a month, I've openly shared my concerns about the lack of production from Kansas City's edge players. The Chiefs' offensive line play has left much to be desired. The absence of cornerback Jaylen Watson has proven a considerable obstacle. If these persistent problems are left unchecked, they could ultimately derail Kansas City's three-peat campaign. On that much, we can all agree.

Where I diverge from a segment of Chiefs Kingdom, disappointed in Sunday's result, is in what it signifies about this team. In the lead up to this Week 12 matchup, there was a contingent of fans who expected to see the Chiefs run roughshod over the Panthers. I; however, was not among them. I predicted a 24-17 win for Kansas City. The Chiefs won by a slimmer margin, but the game script was eerily similar to what I had anticipated.

There's nothing shameful about a narrow victory over a 3-7 team, even for a contender. Just this week the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the 2-8 Cleveland Browns, the Houston Texans were bested by the 2-8 Tennessee Titans, the Washington Commanders lost to a 3-7 Dallas Cowboys squad led by quarterback Cooper Rush, and the Minnesota Vikings needed overtime to edge out the 3-7 Chicago Bears. In the National Football League, it's any given Sunday. The parity of this league is unparalleled in professional sports.

In Week 11, the Buffalo Bills handed the Chiefs their first loss of the regular season. Earlier this year, the Bills narrowly defeated a ghastly New York Jets team 23-20. Three weeks ago, they eked out a win over the lowly Miami Dolphins, again by the same margin of victory. The Baltimore Ravens won 28-25 against the Dallas Cowboys and have a pair of victories over the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals by a combined total of just four points. At the risk of belaboring the point, this is far more common than fans like to admit. More importantly, margin of victory matters in NCAA football, but it’s far less important in the NFL.

Reports began circulating shortly after the game that there was a somber mood in the Chiefs' locker room. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, sensing his team’s disappointment, had this to say in his post-game speech: "I don’t want to see anybody hanging their heads, men. This league is crazy. That’s the way this thing goes. You saw it yesterday with college football. Nothing’s given to you, and you’re getting their best shot. So, you keep your heads up, men. We’ll get this thing rolling, right. We’ve got some things we gotta clean up, but we keep it rolling here. That’s the important part — winning is the important part right here. And you guys beared down and got it done."

We could dismiss what Reid said as coachspeak, but he makes a salient point about navigating a gauntlet of an NFL regular season—especially as the two-time defending world champions. Opposing teams will invariably summon their best football when facing the Chiefs. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young posted his highest-rated game of the season (minimum of 25 attempts) and a Carolina defense that had only recorded 12 sacks on the season dumped Patrick Mahomes five times on Sunday.

I'm not here to dismiss legitimate concerns about this team's warts. I'm simply suggesting that tight games aren't one of them. Finding ways to win had been Kansas City's calling card before the Buffalo loss, but I suspect that game amplified the concerns fans have. All the talk about it being a meaningless game that meant more to Buffalo seems to have been bluster by a fanbase struggling to cope with Kansas City's first loss in 15 games.

Make no mistake, the team has to be better in the run-up to the postseason, but I believe with the recent addition of left tackle D.J. Humphries, and Isiah Pacheco, Charles Omenihu, and Marquise "Hollywood" Brown soon returning from injuries, that's a reasonable expectation. Let's also hope there's a positive prognosis on the horizon for cornerback Jaylen Watson.