The Chiefs defense yet again gives the offense a margin for error
You can't build a big lead if you can't score. And no close game is safe with Mahomes
It is almost impossible to describe how grim things looked for the Chiefs with 6:06 remaining in the 1st quarter against the Chargers.
Kansas City had turned the ball over on its first two drives, one of which was a positively horrific interception by Patrick Mahomes (who has looked weirdly mortal the last several weeks, particularly with his pocket presence and ball placement). Los Angeles had driven down the field with ease its first drive and punched it in for a TD. And even worse, star WR Rashee Rice had been knocked out of the game (by Mahomes, at that) and likely for the season with an injury that was immediately apparent to be serious.
(NOTE- I’ll definitely be writing later this week about what the Chiefs should do about the WR room with Rice now likely out for the year and Brown MAYBE out for the rest of the year as well, as well as Mahomes’ film)
Things looked bad. Real bad. And generally, that’s when Chiefs fans have looked to Mahomes or Travis Kelce to set the universe right. However, with the normally superhuman QB playing poorly, it landed on the defense to try and make something happen.
And the defense responded in dominant fashion, first holding the Chargers to a field goal (despite Herbert and company starting the drive from their own 20-yard-line) and then proceeding to completely smother L.A. the rest of the game.
The Chiefs ultimately managed to do JUST enough on offense to score 17 points (thanks in large part to rookie Xavier Worthy getting loose down the field), and Kansas City walked away 4-0 and at the top of the AFC West by a wide margin (and atop the entire AFC, hilariously enough). It was yet another ugly win in a season that has been full of them already.
And the primary reason for that? Steve Spagnuolo, Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie, and a defense that is proving to be absolutely smothering for the second consecutive season. The Chargers were only able to string together a couple of even remotely competitive drives following the 1st quarter and didn’t manage to put a single point on the board thanks to Spags and company shutting them down on 3rd down after 3rd down when it counted the most. And at the center of it all, of course…
Jones was once again dominant against the Chargers, doing the same thing he did against the Bengals in Week 2 by completely taking over multiple plays and ruining any chance at success for the opposing offense. After that Week 2 performance, I wrote that the Chiefs can win ugly thanks to Jones. He’s been the best player on the Chiefs so far this season (with Trent McDuffie being the second best, to be perfectly honest).
But watching the Chargers try (and fail) to extend their double-digit lead early in the game, then try (and fail) to prevent the Chiefs from narrowing the gap, and then try (and fail) to prevent the Chiefs from taking the lead, AND THEN try (and fail) to come back late in the game… I started to think about Spags’ defensive unit as a whole. Mostly, the impossible problem they present to opponents who just cannot pull away enough to be safe from Mahomes inevitably stringing together enough good drives to even up a game.
Let’s talk about all the times the defense came through against Los Angeles, and how the Chiefs are (as of now) led by a defense that refuses to allow teams gain enough distance to put down Mahomes even when he’s having a bad day.