KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos for the 16th straight time Thursday night while winning their fifth straight game and improving to an AFC-best 5-1 record.
But much of the talk in their locker room after their 19-8 victory was about his uninspiring manner. With the Chiefs defense throttling Russell Wilson and the Broncos for most of the game, allowing Denver its only touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes and the offense searched for answers.
The Chiefs scored one touchdown on five drives inside the Denver 20 and needed four Harrison Butker field goals, including a 60-yarder on the final play of the first half, to win .
Even coach Andy Reid, who has never seen his team have an ugly victory, said: “We are striving for something better than what we are doing now.” »
The Chiefs are not really experiencing offensive difficulties this season. They are ninth in scoring with 24.5 points per game and seventh in passing yards with 382 yards per game.
That’s below the standards they’ve set since Mahomes became their starter in 2018. To win games, they’ve had to rely on their defense, which against the Broncos held an opponent to 10 points or less for the third time and posted a shutout. in the fourth quarter for the second time.
“Luckily for us, our defense is playing really well, so we can overcome those growing pains and try to get better and better,” Mahomes said. “The talent is there. It shows in fits and starts.
“I think we did a great job of staying patient, moving the ball down the court, but in this league, three points and seven points, it’s such a big difference and so I think if we found a way to execute in the red zone and score those touchdowns, we would come away in great shape. Since we didn’t do that, we have a lot of room to improve and so that’s something we have to continue to work on. It’s just about putting a complete game together, let’s create a complete game and see what we can do.
Mahomes said the Chiefs typically build their offensive identity as the season goes on, but the process is taking longer this season. Travis Kelce, with nine catches against the Broncos, is again a consistent receiving threat and running back Isiah Pacheco is averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
But the Chiefs are having trouble finding wide receivers they can rely on. The most reliable has been a rookie, Rashee Rice, who has 21 catches and two touchdowns. He is their only wide receiver with at least 12 receptions and averaging over 10 yards per catch.
“We’re getting more (deep) coverage than I expected,” Mahomes said. “There are a lot of deep coverages and that forced us to be patient, to run the length of the field…
“We did a good job leading the field, we just didn’t score any touchdowns today. So defenses are going to do it. We’ll continue to get better and when the opportunity presents itself and we have the man.coverage, we need to make sure we reach the ones that are deep.
