Chiefs Proving to Be Legitimate Contenders by Beating Teams at Their Own Game

At the beginning of the season, many thought the Kansas City Chiefs would regress in 2014. There were good reasons to believe that might be the case, so the Arrowhead faithful were bracing for the worst.

After a 24-20 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks to move to 7-3, the Chiefs are proving to be legitimate contenders in the AFC by beating teams—including other contenders—at their own game. They are one of the top squads in the AFC now by record and in a tie with the Denver Broncos for first place in the AFC West.

Unlike their great start last season, the Chiefs didn’t have a creampuff schedule early on. They beat the 8-2 New England Patriots, the 6-4 San Diego Chargers on the West Coast and beat up on the 6-4 Miami Dolphins in Miami. The Chiefs are 4-2 against teams with winning records, and both losses were by a single score on the road.

One loss came off a short week by five points to the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, but they still had a chance to win in the final few minutes. The Chiefs also took the 7-3 Denver Broncos to the wire at Mile High, but they couldn’t get the final two yards they needed to tie at the end of the game.

The best teams in the league have those kind of losses during the course of a season. The only real blemish on the year was a loss to the Tennessee Titans, but that could just have been a Week 1 fluke.

“It’s the NFL. Records don’t matter," said outside linebacker Tamba Hali after the game, via Randy Covitz of The Kansas City Star. "Teams are good in this league. If you don’t bring your ‘A’ game…Denver found that out [Sunday]. We found that out early.”

Almost more impressive is how the Chiefs have won their games. While the Chiefs aren’t straying far from their core principles like running the ball and playing good defense, they’ve still managed to beat teams at their own game.

On Sunday, running back Jamaal Charles had 20 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Knile Davis had a rushing touchdown thanks to Charles' work in the game as well. Contrast that with Marshawn Lynch of the Seahawks, who managed 24 carries for 124 yards but no touchdowns.

The No. 1 rushing team in the league still bested the Chiefs by 14 yards on the ground thanks to quarterback Russell Wilson’s 71 yards, but the Chiefs averaged 6.3 yards per carry to the Seahawks’ 5.5 and had the aforementioned three rushing touchdowns to Seattle’s zero.

The Chiefs have yet to allow a rushing touchdown this season; every other team has allowed at least four such scores. Coming into the day, the Seahawks were tied for second in the league in rushing touchdowns allowed with four and tied for first with 3.2 yards allowed per carry, but the Chiefs went right at their strength and beat it.

When Lynch needed the tough yard, though, he couldn’t get it. Not against these Chiefs, who thwarted Lynch on 3rd-and-goal from four yards out in the fourth quarter followed by forcing an incomplete pass by the usually clutch Wilson.

The Chiefs also stuffed Lynch on 4th-and-1 with three minutes and 38 seconds left in the game. This is the guy who carried the entire Oakland Raiders defense into the end zone two weeks ago, but he couldn’t muster a yard to extend a drive for his team.

It wasn’t the first time the Chiefs beat an opponent at its own game this season. Quarterback Alex Smith had more passing yards than Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Philip Rivers in his team’s respective games against those quarterbacks. It wasn’t like Smith was throwing for 400 yards, but that’s the point: The Chiefs are winning games as a whole.

Opponent	Opponent Passing Yards	Alex Smith Passing Yards
Peyton Manning	237	247
Tom Brady	159	248
Philip Rivers	205	221

In addition, the Chiefs are beating throwing teams by playing good pass defense. They are beating running teams by defending the run. If a team has a strength, the Chiefs are finding ways to break it down on offense, defense or special teams.

Last week in Buffalo, the Chiefs had three takeaways against a defense that came into Week 11 tied for the most takeaways in the league. The Chiefs had only one turnover of their own. They had a kick return for a touchdown when facing the St. Louis Rams to help win that game in a 34-7 rout—against a team that beat the Seahawks almost exclusively with special teams the week before.

With the Week 1 exception, the Chiefs have done everything you would expect a contender to do. They win the games they should win. They win tough games at home. They win about half their tough road games and keep it close in the others.

They aren’t playing up or down to their competition, so it’s very easy to see that they are a legitimate contender. If you ignore an uncharacteristic Week 1 in which Charles and Davis combined for eight carries and Smith threw the ball 35 times, the Chiefs have been extremely consistent on offense and defense.

Stat	Offense	Defense
3rd Down Conv. %	48.7% (3)	34.5% (3)
Red Zone TD %	69.0 (4)	42.3% (2)
Plays/Drive	6.1 (4)	5.8 (17T)
Points/Drive	2.15 (9)	1.54 (6)
Time Per Drive	3:00 (1T)	2:38 (17)
Team Penalties	42 (1T)	42 (1T)

While the Chiefs may not be putting up big yardage numbers, they are doing the little things they have to do to win games. Kansas City came into Week 11 ranked third on third downs and first in penalties.

The Chiefs also ranked fourth in plays per drive, first in time of possession per drive and ninth in points per drive on offense coming into Week 11. Head coach Andy Reid's offense came into Sunday ranked fourth in red-zone touchdown percentage at 68.97 percent.

On defense, the Chiefs came into Sunday ranked second in the league in red-zone touchdown percentage allowed and seventh in points per drive allowed. 

So while the traditional stat sheet might not do the Chiefs justice, their 7-3 record and many advanced stats do. The Chiefs can be satisfied with the former for now, with a big showdown at home against the Broncos in two weeks the true test of the their ability to contend for something more than a playoff spot. 

First, the Chiefs have to go to Oakland to play the 0-10 Oakland Raiders. As Hali said, records don't matter. The Chiefs have to take the Raiders seriously even if everyone else pencils in the two games against the Raiders as victories.

Other than two games against the Raiders, the Chiefs' final six games include four against teams with a winning record. After the Broncos game, the Chiefs head to Arizona to play the 9-1 Cardinals. The Chiefs finish the season against two teams that could be scratching and clawing for a playoffs spot by then—the 6-4 Pittsburgh Steelers and 6-4 San Diego Chargers. 

The Chiefs have proved they can beat contenders, and they'll have to do it a few more times to be considered among the AFC elite come January. Based on the first 10 games, it shouldn't be a problem for this surprising team.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics via Pro-Football-Reference.com, NFL.com, ESPN.com or TeamRankings.com.