The Kansas City Chiefs remain the No. 1 team in the Touchdown Wire power rankings for the fourth consecutive week.
They have the best record in the league at 14-1 and they’ve secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They’re also coming off their lowest-scoring game of the season, which also happens to be the lowest-scoring win in Patrick Mahomes’ career. They were neck and neck with the Atlanta Falcons down to the final minutes of their Week 16 game. Falcons K Younghoe Koo missed what would have been a game-tying field goal and it may have actually been partially blocked.
Chiefs fans were noticeably discontent with the offensive performance, but Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield was most concerned with the defense. If the Chiefs falter in the playoffs, he thinks the defense will be at fault. Here’s a preview of what he had to say:
“The win, however, again illustrates what could be the potential Achilles’ heel for Kansas City with the playoffs looming. Matt Ryan had a strong day for the Falcons, throwing for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss. Kansas City’s defense is good, but can give up some plays in the passing game. That could spell trouble for the Chiefs when they face more complete teams in the playoffs.”
Let’s not forget that 130 of those 300 yards for Atlanta came from Calvin Ridley, who is one of the receivers in the league this year, ranking No. 5 in receiving yards so far. Lately, I feel there are more signs of improvement from this defense. It feels better than it did earlier in the season between getting pressure on the quarterback, getting off the field on third down and creating key turnovers. It might not be the type of late-season improvement they saw in 2019, but it’s noticeable. If you put this game in a bubble, it was actually the defense that kept the team in it when the offense was struggling to execute.
Schofield feels that Mahomes still gives this team the advantage heading into the playoffs and that’s probably true. This team doesn’t have to be overly reliant on the offense to win games, though. They’ve seen the defense and special teams unit step up at times throughout the season. It may not be perfect every week, but they’ve managed to find ways to win, which is all that matters in the long run.
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