The Kansas City Chiefs ran into serious problems in Buffalo, but at the end of the day, the Chiefs are still the only unbeaten team in the NFL. Still, there’s cause for concern in Kansas City after witnessing the Bills dominate the Bills in every fashion, only giving the Chiefs the win due to a few key mistakes.
The Chiefs’ strategy to this point in the season has been to play smart, efficient football, and so far, that’s paid off well. The Chiefs are a team that simply doesn’t beat itself. To date, the Chiefs have survived a number of close calls due to their opponents’ mistakes, but they’ll have to improve greatly to win in the playoffs.
With undrafted rookie Jeff Tuel taking the snaps for the Bills, it was no surprise to see Buffalo take to the ground game. Even though everyone knew what the Bills wanted to do on offense, the Chiefs were unable to slow the Bills’ running attack down all afternoon.
The Chiefs’ offense played a very mediocre game, not making big mistakes, but lacking big plays as well. In fact, had Jeff Tuel not gifted the Chiefs a pick six from deep in the red zone, the Bills would have been in great shape heading into the latter parts of the game with a big lead.
The Chiefs have been a confusing team all season long. They’ve lacked any sort of explosive plays, but they’ve been able to win their games by essentially playing a long game of attrition. Unfortunately, that won’t work down the road.
With a divisional game against the Broncos in the not-so-distant future, the Chiefs will have to figure out a way to be far more productive on both sides of the ball. The Broncos, and other playoff teams, will make some mistakes, but unlike the weaker teams of the NFL, they can come back from those plays.
Don’t misread me on this point. The Chiefs are a very sound football team, but their lack of explosive plays won’t bode well in the playoffs. The Chiefs need more out of Alex Smith late in the season. He may be the best game manager in the NFL, but game managers don’t win Super Bowls for their teams in today’s NFL. Now, Smith and the rest of the Chiefs’ offense have to take the next step from efficiency to explosiveness. If they can’t do that, they may be a lame-duck undefeated team.
