Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ (doink) win vs. the LA Chargers

We’ve seen this Chiefs game before. On repeat, even.

The only difference? How they win. We now have The Doink. The Chiefs were sluggish offensively, non-existent in the third quarter and consistently beat on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Oh, the final score: Chiefs 19, Chargers 17. Matthew Wright kicked a game-winning 31-yard field goal.

It hit the left upright and re-directed over the goal post on the final play of the game. Kansas City Chiefs punter Matt Araiza (14) and place kicker Matthew Wright (49) watch as the winning field goal gives the Chiefs a 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers In the second half on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Tammy Ljungblad [email protected] Hey, plug it right into this Chiefs season — a Chiefs season that looks increasingly likely to secure the AFC’s No. 1 postseason seed, by the way. Here are five observations from immediately after the game:

1. The Chiefs and game-winners

The betting market devalues the Chiefs. The all-encompassing DVOA metric thinks they’re mediocre.

Offensively. Defensively. They’ve regressed in about every metric. Well except one: The record (12-1). How? For all of their flaws — and we’ll cover some here — they’re still at their best with the game on the line. The Chiefs took the ball trailing by a point, and put together their longest drive of the night — a 14-play, 47-yard drive — to set up the game-winning field goal.

They didn’t even let the Chargers sniff the lats possession.

Patrick Mahomes, harassed by the pass rush all night, started to give himself up on a rollout to drain the clock but hit Travis Kelce on a 9-yard play on third-and-6 that allowed the Chiefs to exhaust the remainder of the clock. It’s not the prettiest way to win, and every word of that sentence is critical. They are winning. Any way, any how. But as for the ugly? There’s plenty to discuss there, too.

2. The pass protection

The Chiefs made yet another significant switch in their pass protection. Well, in personnel. Not in result. Kansas City turned to D.J. Humphries at left tackle, benching Wanya Morris, weeks after they benched Kingsley Suamataia, and while they had to try something different, this particular something is a work in progress.

And expectedly so — it was Humphries’ first NFL game in 49 weeks.

The Chargers hit Mahomes 13 times. Eight different players got a chance to take a shot. Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (70) blocks Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Joey Bosa (97) while quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) looks for an open receiver in the first quarter on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Dominick Williams [email protected] Mahomes operated with a tightening pocket all night, and on the times in which he actually had solid protection, he operated like a quarterback who expected there to be a tightening pocket.

There are both real and imagined effects of putting a quarterback through the amount of pass pressure the Chiefs have asked Mahomes to endure this season.

Humphries, by the way, had to leave the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury, a common side effect of not having played a competitive game in 11 months.

3. The Chiefs abandoned the run

A week after publicly acknowledging they abandoned the run too quickly, the Chiefs opened the game with five handoffs on their initial seven snaps. And then?

They, uh, abandoned it again. The Chiefs dropped back to throw on 23 of the next 25 plays. It would be one thing if it was effective, but they put up all of three points covering four drives over that time.

Look, the Chiefs aren’t running the ball at the same success rate they did earlier this season, but the infrequency of their willingness to stick with it only telegraphs what’s coming for a defense.

To put it simply, it’s a head-scratcher they are insistent on their pass protection becoming part of every play. There are other options, in other words.

The Chiefs have been best when they have titled their calls toward handoffs.

4. The AFC West dominance

It’s hard to use the word “dominant” with the Chiefs right now — all but two wins have been by one possession. But they are quite dominant in the division.

The Chiefs clinched their ninth straight AFC West division championship, and for all of the faults we can find in this year’s team, we can’t overlook this organization’s run. It’s remarkable.

Before this string of nine straight titles, they had won just two of the previous 18.

We used to analyze how bad things were in losses, you know.

5. The consequences of a Chiefs’ win

It’s not just the division.

The Chiefs won two games Sunday. Kind of. The Bills lost to the Rams earlier Sunday, falling to 10-3 and two games behind the Chiefs in the loss column, even as the Bills hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

A big advantage now for the Chiefs with just a month to play. Before the week, even with the better record, the Chiefs had just a 51% chance of securing the No. 1 seed, per ESPN Analytics. The betting markets valued it similarly. Why? The remaining schedule.

The Bills play the Lions next week, but they’ll be at least touchdown favorites in each of their final three (Patriots, Jets and Patriots again).

We’ll look at their schedule a bit differently now — the Bills will have their hands full with the Lions, and if they drop that one, they’re asking a lot of Chiefs’ opponents. The Chiefs finish with the Browns, Texans, Steelers and Broncos. And now have some room for error.