Lights Out: Chiefs Deliver Knockout Blow To Bolts

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Another Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers matchup delivered yet another instant classic. Once again, it was the team wearing red and gold that emerged victorious in thrilling fashion. There were some stellar offensive plays from each side. At the same time, there were some notable stops by each team’s defense. The Chiefs offense made the difference, once again, though. This time around, Kansas City downs Los Angeles by a score of 30-27.

Even with the past success, both Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are playing at career-best levels currently. That is where we will place most of our focus in the FPC Chiefs Week 11 reaction article, as a result. Kansas City entered the game, and interestingly also left the game, with costly injuries to the skill positions. That allowed some players an opportunity to step up. Accordingly, a handful of players did, gaining crucial confidence in the second half of the 2022 season. Because of the Kansas City quarterback, tight end and skill player depth, the Chiefs are again one of the league’s most challenging teams to contain.

In The Zone

Arguably, no quarterback is as locked in right now, compared to Mahomes. It was supposed to be a massive reset and a learning curve for the Chiefs offense this season. Yet, Mahomes has shown tremendous growth by doing the little things correctly. He is also rounding out the finer details of playing quarterback at the NFL level.

From a processing and decision-making standpoint, the Chiefs are benefitting by Mahomes’ ability to take what the defense is giving him. He is not just hitting on those chances. In fact, Mahomes continues to get the ball out instantly and Kansas City is able to gain added separation at the top of their routes, while also gaining ample yards after the catch.

From a physical perspective, Mahomes is about as accurate as we have seen him, at least in quite some time. The Chiefs are getting explosive plays, due to the anticipation and wicked release of their signal caller. Finally, Mahomes is always learning and seems to pick his poison quicker than he has in the past, simply toying with the opposing defense.

Against the Chargers on Sunday night, Patrick shined brightest in moments where the Chiefs had their backs against the wall. Some drastic third down situations looked simple for Mahomes in the second half. On the game-winning drive, he was as calm as ever. You are never out of a game with him in those sorts of situations. Nevertheless, Mahomes and the Chiefs now have instilled confidence and comfort in those spots, needing a touchdown to win the game. They of course delivered, once more.

Can’t Be Stopped

“He’s the greatest tight end of all time,” Mahomes said of Kelce after the win. At this point, it is truly hard to argue against that. You have some amazing tight ends in NFL history, namely Rob Gronkowski, Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, Shannon Sharpe and others. But, Kelce has only continued to get better as his career has grown. The rewriting of the record books is commonplace for him every single season. Moreover, Kelce is on pace for a career-best statistical season, despite the production he has already had in the last handful of years.

Against the Chargers, Kelce led the Chiefs in receptions (six), receiving yards (115) and receiving touchdowns (three) on Sunday night. He now has 69 receptions, 855 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns this year. Amazingly, there is still seven games left to be played in the regular season. Kelce would need just 37 receptions, 562 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown to set new single-season career highs in those categories. We could be seeing the best tight end season of all-time. Even with all of the past dominance from Kelce, the Chiefs tight end is operating on a whole other level right now.

Confidence And Division Lead Builds

Mahomes was clear to point out that some younger players stepped up in this vital victory. We knew that the depth wide receivers were going to have a major opportunity. All in all, Los Angeles has the speed to match Kansas City’s pass catchers. Let’s not forget about their ability to play physical at the catch point. We saw some rookies and veterans that usually get scarce chances come through, however.

Skyy Moore finally looked like the Skyy Moore from Western Michigan. Justin Watson continues to make difficult catches in traffic, when called upon. Noah Gray and Jody Fortson both offer a commanding presence behind Kelce at the tight end position. And even on the ground, Isiah Pacheco had yet another strong day.

Mahomes and Kelce will always receive most of the flowers when the Chiefs win, so to speak. Though, there were some momentum-changing plays made by these other depth pieces. Kansas City delivers a huge knockout blow to the Chargers, gaining a three-game lead in the AFC West as we near Thanksgiving. On the other hand, the AFC is only getting tighter at the top, where the Chiefs still hold the top spot at 8-2.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.