This game didn’t start off the way that the Kansas City Chiefs had hoped, finding themselves in an early 17-point hole against their biggest division rivals. They didn’t get down on themselves, despite some questionable penalties. The team kept battling and in the end, their perseverance paid off with a one-point win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
So what else did we learn about the Chiefs in their latest game?
Final Score: Chiefs 30, Raiders 29
This was a massive comeback win for Kansas City where the team responded to a lot of adversity in the game. Things weren’t going well early, but they took the lead in the second half and they never surrendered it. There are certain things to work on heading into a huge Week 6 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, but mental toughness isn’t one of them.
Weekly Awards
- Chiefs Wire Game Ball: TE Travis Kelce
- Harrison Butker Rookie of the Game: DE George Karlaftis
- Casey Wiegmann Veteran of the Game: RB Jerick McKinnon
- Jamaal Charles Offensive Player of the Game: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
- Bobby Bell Defensive Player of the Game: LB Darius Harris
- Morten Andersen Special Teams Player of the Game: K Matthew Wright
- Otis Taylor Play of the Game: Matthew Wright’s 59-yard field goal.
- Wesley Roesch Stat of the Game: Las Vegas was 5-for-12 on third down.
Quick-hitting observations and analysis
- The first 20 minutes of the game were about as uninspired as I’ve seen this team play and in a rivalry game no less. It just wasn’t particularly good in any phase of the game.
- Something clicked with a few minutes left to play in the second quarter. The offense started to get their mojo, the defense started to get back into the game.
- Jaylen Watson’s pass interference penalty felt like a bad call to me. The NFL did away with their face-guarding penalty and he was grabbed by Davante Adams, which is why he couldn’t avoid contact. That should have been a no-call.
- The crowd at Arrowhead Stadium was amazing, like seriously amazing. They let the officials know they were unhappy with the call often, chanting at the refs before the end of the first half. It was so much that Carl Cheffers was visibly shaken later in the game.
- The roughing the passer penalty on Chris Jones was bad for many reasons, but the most head-scratching is whether Jones gained possession on the fumble before the penalty occurred. If so, the Chiefs should have maintained possession of the football.
- Matthew Wright now has the record for the longest field goal in franchise history at Arrowhead Stadium. He missed a 41-yarder early on, but nailed a 59-yarder right down the uprights. He was making 57 yards in pregame warmups, so the Chiefs were pretty confident in his range.
- There was a resurgence of the Jerick McKinnon that we saw at the end of last season. I know he dealt with an offseason injury and was a late addition, but he looked like he was getting comfortable again.
- A pair of Chiefs got their first career sacks on Monday night. Chiefs rookie DE George Karlaftis got his first as did LB Darius Harris.
- Travis Kelce is the best tight end in football. He might go down as the best to ever play the game when it is all said and done. There is no one else like him.
Up next:
No rest for the Chiefs this week. They’ll have a short week to prepare for the Buffalo Bills, who travel to Arrowhead Stadium for an afternoon game in Week 6. This is one of the most highly-anticipated NFL regular season games this year and could determine which club has a home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
