The Kansas City Chiefs are 11-1 after narrowly defeating the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday. Despite their outstanding record, the defending Super Bowl champions have looked dysfunctional in recent weeks on both sides of the ball.
After a 9-0 start to the regular season, Kansas City fell to the Buffalo Bills in Week 11, and the Chiefs haven’t looked like the same team since.
Patrick Mahomes, who was particularly turnover-prone early in Kansas City’s 2024 campaign, hasn’t thrown an interception in weeks.
But the Chiefs’ defense, which was among the NFL’s best to start the season, nearly let Raiders backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell lead a two-minute drill that could have handed Kansas City its second loss in three games.
In his postgame locker room speech after Friday’s game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid sent a clear message to Kansas City’s players; that he expected to see improvement, and for the team to get through its upcoming mini-bye week without any off-field incidents.
Another week, another nail-biter, another Chiefs win. pic.twitter.com/UvSvIdeSkO
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) November 30, 2024
The Chiefs punched their ticket to the playoffs in Week 13, but Reid will need to make sure his players clean up their mistakes if Kansas City intends to earn a third consecutive Super Bowl title.