The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 30-29 in Week 5 on “Monday Night Football.” It’s their second win over a division opponent this season and their second consecutive win after a disappointing Week 3 loss. This game could have gone awry as that one did, but this team kept their composure and faith in each other en route to victory.
What else did we learn about the Chiefs in their Week 5 win? Here are four of our biggest takeaways after the game:
The crowd at Arrowhead Stadium played a big role in the win
Arrowhead Stadium has a reputation for its crowd noise and that was on full display on Monday night. One of the first things that Chiefs HC Andy Reid did in his postgame press conference was to mention how great the fans were during the game.
“Our crowd, man, our crowd was tremendous tonight,” Reid said. “Digging in for four quarters with us and hanging right there.”
Things didn’t go right for the team early on, but the crowd helped the team get back into the game after a big penalty on Chris Jones left fans livid. In just his second game playing with the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster said he felt the momentum shift with the fans and crowd noise in that moment.
“Yeah – for sure,” Smith-Schuster said. “Like I said, this is a loud stadium, and you can hear. When there was a bad call when Chris Jones – you know. For the whole second quarter, the fans were cheering ‘boo’ and all that stuff so you definitely could feel the momentum going into halftime and coming out for the second half.”
Even the opponents noticed the impact that the fans were having on the game.
“Yeah, they were fired up,” Raiders DE Maxx Crosby said. “That’s what you play for. Coming into a hostile environment, having fans talking crazy to you. That’s what you dream about when you’re a kid. I love it, honestly. I’ll definitely chip back at some fans, but it’s all fun at the end of the day.”
Never discount your impact as a fan making noise in the stands because it was certainly felt in this game.
Patrick Mahomes challenged the offensive line and they responded
In the early goings of the game, the Chiefs’ offensive line was struggling mightily against the Raiders. Orlando Brown Jr. was getting beat time after time by Chandler Jones. Maxx Crosby was getting the best of his former college teammate Andrew Wylie. Nick Allegretti was struggling at times while filling in for RG Trey Smith.
Asked what went wrong in the first quarter, Mahomes explained that they were losing the battle in the trenches. He issued a challenge to his offensive linemen, saying that they would be the difference between a win or a loss.
“I thought they just were more physical than we were,” Mahomes said. “At the end of the day, they came out and they rushed the passer well. They ran the ball well and then that, those two things are how physical you are and I kind of went up to O-line and said, ‘We’re going to win or lose this game because of y’all.’ And they responded. They went out there and blocked their tail off the entire second half and gave me time to make those throws downfield.”
Sure enough, Mahomes’ challenge successfully motivated his teammates. Orlando Brown helped rally the troops according to Travis Kelce. They weren’t perfect for the remainder of the game, but they picked up their play enough that it made a significant difference.
This team trusts their defense
When Andy Reid opted to punt with just 36 seconds to go until the 2-minute warning, many thought the game was over. They expected that Derek Carr would get the ball back with a chance to get the Raiders within striking distance for a long field goal.
So why did Reid decide to punt the ball there instead of going for it with his all-world quarterback on offense?
“Trust in the defense there,” Reid told reporters after the game.
This team isn’t like the Chiefs squads of old where the offense has to carry the team to victory. This is something that the players on the defensive side have been harping on throughout the offseason — they want to be a reason this team wins games.
“We take it back to training camp,” Chiefs S Justin Reid said. “In training camp, we made a statement that on the defensive side of the ball, we wanted to be an attitude defense. When the opportunity fell in our lap to finish that game on the defensive side, we wanted to do that. We didn’t want to always have to rely on the offense. We wanted to come out as a defense and be strong, be physical, and finish out games too. We did it today, but we’re going to have to do it next week too.”
Well, it’s clear that the decision-makers trust this side of the ball, even with some key pieces missing and banged up throughout the game.
Travis Kelce is up for any challenge
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is one of a kind and he proved that again in Week 5. Throughout most of the game, the Raiders hit Kelce with the old “New England” defense as Patrick Mahomes called it. They had pass rushers chipping him, they had defensive backs and linebackers double-teaming him. They didn’t want to give him any free releases off the line of scrimmage.
Kelce still made them pay.
“I love it. Bring it,” Kelce said. “I’m going to make it so you have to bring a triple-team. That’s my mentality. I still try to find ways to get open, I still have to be able to be there for the quarterback on time. I take pride in, even if they’re trying to hit me at the line of scrimmage, being able to get through that, get through the route and be on time. It’s a mentality to never be stopped.”
Well, that mentality translated on the football field, especially in the red zone, where he scored four touchdowns on the day. It seems like no challenge on the field is too big for Kelce and next time around the Raiders might have to actually triple-team him.
