In the gauntlet that is the Chiefs' schedule, the Chiefs once again faced a league Top 5 defense in the San Francisco 49ers. The Super Bowl 54 Rematch was poised to be one where it would mimic that fateful contest 2 years ago. Patrick Mahomes would have to make quick decisions faced against a stout 49er pass rush, the defense would have to be able to roll with the punches and keep up with a stellar run game led by a feature workhorse committee, and it would come down to a few big plays to decide a hard fought dogfight.
Or so we thought... At first it was much like the Super Bowl. Chiefs fell behind 10 after some bad Patrick Mahomes/receiver miscues and the defense gave up too many gut punches. It looked to be the Chiefs were still recovering from the Bills loss a week earlier, but then things turned around. The offense finally looks like it's building chemistry, with MVS, Juju Smith-Shuster, and of course Travis Kelce (on National Tight End Day no less) how out with huge plays throughout the game. The run game also finally looked like it was gaining a head of steam, with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jerrick McKinnon, and starter Isiah Pacheco all three having very nice outings. That 3rd down and 20 play by McKinnon was not only the dagger, but arguably the best play the Chiefs have had all season. The "hot hand" approach seems to be working, and needs to be the standard (More on that later and on why we may see Ronald Jones even get some reps in tomorrow's ScorchCast)
What pleased me the most however, out of all the successes the Chiefs had yesterday, was the fact that the Chiefs made a statement win yesterday. The Bills loss stung, sure. Going up against what is playing out to be your historic, Hall of Fame level rival in the Josh Allen led Bills only to come up one drive short is indeed a real gut punch, but it's regular season. You have to show you can bounce back, otherwise you let that game define you. The Chiefs did not let that game define them, putting up a whopping 44 points on the league's (At least until recently I'm sure) top defense. Mahomes and company showed why they will always be contenders, and it's because they have the ability to win the football games they need to win. At face value, that statement seems redundant, but from a perspective of defining a quarterback's legacy, winning is a huge part of that legacy. Take Tom Brady and Dan Marino. Dan Marino has far and away better accounting stats (on a per year, per capita basis) than Brady, but Brady is more widely regarded as the better quarterback. He has won more, that is why, simple as that, and is why this victory and victories similar before this one are all important. You have to be able to make those bounce back, statement wins, and Mahomes has once again proven he can do that.
I'll have more in the ScorchCast tomorrow, but with a bye week coming up as well as the Current coming up on their championship game, college basketball season right around the corner, and crunch time for college football just beginning, this may be the last Chiefs article I write for a bit barring any big news or trades. I wanted to cover as much as I could so that you, dear reader, could go into the bye week with the proper information and knowledge to get you through having to talk to your KU basketball friend who won't shut up about this upcoming season where they're totally gonna repeat (We're gonna delve into that tomorrow too...) or how K-State would have won against TCU had TCU not injured Adrian Martinez (Sounds familiar, and an excuse you lot mocked when it happened to KU and Jalon Daniels, again more on that tomorrow.) Fear not, Chiefs Kingdom, KC sports are still alive and well even without Chiefs football in the daily news. In fact, KC sports may garner another championship with the Current come this Saturday. Plenty of reason to get excited, no matter if you're a Wildcat, Jayhawk, Tiger, Bearcat, Husker, Lion, Tiger (Auburn), or Bears fan (Oh my)
Burn Notice: 10/10 May have been pretty wet today but the fire is still burnin'
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