Jose Mourinho Making All the Right Moves in the Premier League Title Race

His wisdom was questioned more than once before and during Chelsea's 1-0 victory against Queens Park Rangers on Sunday, but come the final whistle, Jose Mourinho had proved us all wrong.

With Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic just a bad tackle away from a two-game suspension, Mourinho ran the gauntlet by playing the pair in a feisty London derby.

All it would have taken was a slow reaction, a lingering leg or, dare we say it, some gamesmanship from an opponent and the upcoming games with Manchester United and Arsenal would have taken on a whole different perspective.

"We need points, we need victories. It doesn’t make sense to think about some matches and not others," Mourinho had said ahead of Chelsea's visit to Loftus Road, explaining why he was so eager to start his midfield pair regardless of the risk.

"We need to win every game. We don’t think about the points we have and the game in hand."

That it was Fabregas who scored the winner on Sunday shows us Mourinho's approach was right.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

A gamble it may have been, but with high stakes come even bigger rewards, and Chelsea got theirs.

Without Fabregas scoring that goal, Chelsea's lead at the top of the table would have been cut to five points. Now they have the possibility of extending it to 10 with victory over Manchester United, with Arsenal away on FA Cup duty.

Chelsea's position was already strong. Mourinho has made it concrete.

The Chelsea boss isn't ducking the big decisions right now. And in so doing, he's making the right choices.

A lesser manager would have opted to rest Matic or Fabregas against QPR, but Mourinho doesn't operate that way.

As he put it in his pre-match press conference—every game is worth three points regardless of the opponents, and he will always field a team to win.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

It's the right sort message to be sending his players at this moment, too. If Fabregas or Matic were apprehensive about their disciplinary record, their manager's confidence allayed their fears.

Mourinho wasn't worried about United or Arsenal, so his players shouldn't have been.

That policy against QPR doesn't come in isolation, either.

Just a week previous, it was Mourinho's reaction to Diego Costa's injury that proved pivotal against Stoke City.

When Costa pulled up with his hamstring injury, Didier Drogba had been limbering up to replace Loic Remy. The inevitable change was then Drogba for Costa, but it was interesting how Mourinho played it.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

He shifted his decision-making immediately, acting on instinct, following that intuition that has served him so well.

No sooner was Costa hobbling down the tunnel, Juan Cuadrado was stripped off and warming up himself. Mourinho was trying to bring a balance to his team, yet he didn't panic.

Twice Cuadrado looked to be entering the fray, but the manager sniffed an opportunity, leaving Remy on the pitch for a few moments longer to score the game's winning goal.

It was his last kick of the game. He had given his manager just what he needed.

We often hear how it's those fine margins that win games and, ultimately, trophies. It's no accident Chelsea keep finding these decisive moments to win matches, however.

They present themselves for every team, but not all are capable of making them count.

In their last three outings, for example, Chelsea have been tested by their opponents. They've ridden their luck against QPR, Stoke and Hull City, yet maximum points has been the outcome.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

On each occasion, Chelsea have benefited from a goalkeeping error. Against Hull, it was Allan McGregor's poor attempt to save Remy's shot. In the clash with Stoke, it was Asmir Begovic's errant throw. And on Sunday, it was Rob Green's sliced clearance.

Three similar scenarios, always the same outcome: Chelsea have struck when the opportunities have been there. They've been clinical.

They're factors that have much more than an element of Mourinho's influence about them.

The manager's not concerning himself with outside factors right now. He's not playing a game of football roulette as he attempts to negotiate the final matches of 2014/15.

Mourinho's more calculated than that, and Chelsea are reaping the rewards.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes