In back-to-back weeks the Kansas City Chiefs have wins over teams who make their home in Los Angeles and play at SoFi Stadium. This time they took down the reigning Super Bowl champs 26-10 in what will be their last game at Arrowhead Stadium for nearly a month. It wasn’t quite the dominant win everyone was expecting on the scoreboard, but the Chiefs did manage to cover the spread for the first time in a while.
What else did we learn about the Chiefs in their Week 12 win? Here are four of our biggest takeaways after the game:
Red zone offense has some work to do
The Chiefs entered Week 12 as one of the league’s best teams in the red zone, scoring a touchdown on 72.1% of their trips. This week they were just 1-of-6 on their trips into the Rams’ red zone. Patrick Mahomes had some thoughts on the team’s struggles there after the game.
“The defense kept us in the game (and) got some turnovers for us (and) got some big stops after some turnovers that we (the offense) made but especially in the red zone we got to execute at a higher level,” Mahomes told reporters. “I got to execute at a higher level, and I got to take out like the one dumb play I make every game it seems like so if I can take that out, I think we’ll be alright.”
He couldn’t pinpoint anything particular afoot and gave the Rams’ defense their flowers. It simply came down to poor execution for Kansas City.
“No, I mean they (Rams defense) did a good job,” Mahomes said. “At the end of the day, they’ve got great players. They still have a great defense over there. They did a great job of kind of passing off crossers down there. They were in the right spots kind of where I wanted to go so, they had a good game plan. I have to find ways to execute at a higher level, get it to those guys in space and when we do have chances, we have to make sure that we get in the endzone so that’s just something that we can go back on film and get better at.”
Expect some extra red zone work to take place during practice this week.
The Isiah Pacheco train keeps rolling
Pacheco stacked another good game in Week 12 against the Rams. While it wasn’t quite the 100-yard performance he had a week ago, Pacheco was still successful against a team with a stout run defense. He carried the rock 22 times for 69 yards and a score. Some late-game carries bogged down his yards per attempt a bit, but it was overall a good showing for the rookie.
Even on the back of a good game, he’s saying all the right things as he turns his attention to the next one.
“Just day-by-day, going through the motions. Never a day that will go by where I’m satisfied,” Pacheco said. “Just keep working, keep coming in the building with the same mindset, the same attitude. When I get out there, it’s time to roll and when we’re rolling, we’re going fast and y’all can see today we get a good momentum going, (we) get rolling early.”
This was Pacheco’s second consecutive week with 15 or more carries, but he doesn’t seem too phased by the heavy workload.
“Doesn’t really matter the carries, how many reps, how many plays, I do whatever to help the team win,” Pacheco said. “For me, just keep working hard at practice, so when it comes out in games we can execute at a fast pace.”
Nick Bolton indispensable to Chiefs' defensive success
Bolton had his second interception in as many weeks, notched his sixth double-digit tackle game of the season and managed a tackle for loss. He always manages to be around the ball and make timely plays for this team. Speaking to reporters after the game, Andy Reid had nothing but good things to say about him.
“Yeah well, his instincts – Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) has mentioned that to you – but his instincts, his ability to tackle in tight areas and then also in the field I think is big,” Reid said. “He’ll tell you that it helps to have a good defensive line too. But, he’s having definitely an All-Pro-type season. He’s (a) heck of a football player.”
That’s the first time that All-Pro has been mentioned for Bolton, who has 106 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, two sacks and two interceptions on the season after Week 12.
Special teams is going to cost this team in the playoffs
Special teams have been an abject disaster week in and week out for the Chiefs this season. It’s not just the fact that they keep going back to Skyy Moore at punt returner despite his clear struggles there. It’s that they’re woefully unprepared for everything that teams throw at them every week.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that teams who are struggling to keep up with the Chiefs’ offense are going to try and steal possessions on special teams. I wrote ahead of the Week 10 game against the Jaguars that they might try to do something on special teams and they open the game with a surprise onside kick. This week, the Rams tried to steal a possession with a fake punt. They executed the fake punt, but the defense tightened a few plays later to actually force a punt.
The moral of the story here is that teams are recognizing the weakness that is Kansas City’s special teams. Against better teams, that weakness could end up costing them and with a lot on the line.
