The Kansas City Chiefs stepped up in the Sin City to claim a commanding 31-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. The team seemed to finally leave behind their offensive struggles, but Patrick Mahomes warned that they still have areas to improve at.
“You wash it, you learn from it and you kinda just go back to the fundamentals and working,” Mahomes said about the way the Chiefs bounced back after a slow start, via ProFootballTalk. “We still have stuff to learn from this game. There were certain situations where we didn’t execute at a high enough level. We obviously took a step in the positive direction. Now let’s just continue to do that throughout the rest of the season.’’
At the beginning of the game, it looked like Kansas City would once again struggle with the ball. Their first two possessions ended in punts, while the Raiders took a 14-0 lead in the first half. However, the visitors hit back on time, tying the score before halftime.
From then on, there was no turning back. The Chiefs came back from the locker room with a chip on their shoulders, being efficient in their drives to take a comfortable lead. Mahomes may feel that there’s room for improvement, but defensive tackle Chris Jones had nothing but praise for the offense.
Chris Jones says Chiefs defense has been ‘spoiled’ by Mahomes greatness
“Listen, over the years, man, the offense has been so good, right? And we’re so used to Pat (Patrick Mahomes) scoring 30 points a game and Travis (Kelce) having 80 to 100 yards a game. We’ve been so spoiled with that as a team,” Jones said. “It might not start it the way we wanted to start it right. But as this offense continues to play, they’re gonna continue to get better. Young guys are going to continue to step up, and we’re gonna get back in their rhythm of Pat scoring 30. And we just thought their pass rush crazy.”
The Chiefs’ offense has struggled this year, with turnovers, dropped passes and penalties preventing the unit from scoring the way it did in the last few seasons. However, Jones made it clear the talent is still there, just like everyone’s confidence in Mahomes and company.
“So we always had belief in those guys,” Jones explained, “It’s not a thing where we lose belief in the offense and think that our offense can’t score because they can clearly score at any moment in the game. It’s just them finding a rhythm and getting going.”
Will the Chiefs clinch the top seed in the AFC?
Their win over the Raiders see the Chiefs in control of their division with an 8-3 record, but the AFC is currently in control of the Baltimore Ravens, who moved up to 9-3 with their Sunday night victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
SURVEY Will the Chiefs finish atop the AFC?
Will the Chiefs finish atop the AFC?
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Mahomes’ team has already taken down the Miami Dolphins (8-3), another team with aspirations of clinching a bye to the playoffs. But it won’t have the chance to face the Ravens or the Jaguars, who are also 8-3.
The Chiefs seem to have a good chance of winning most of their remaining games though, so their chances of leapfrogging the Ravens seem to be there. These are the next games for Andy Reid’s team:
- at Packers – 12/3
- vs Bills – 12/10
- at Patriots – 12/18
- vs Raiders 12/25
- vs Bengals 12/31
- at Chargers 1/7 (TBC)
