It’s like facing criticism for being the least impactful Nobel Prize winner. Or the bottom of the class at Harvard. Or the slowest runner at the Olympics.
People keep disparaging the imperfectly perfect Kansas City Chiefs as the NFL’s worst-ever 9-0 team.
Thirty-four teams in NFL history have started a season 9-0. The Chiefs’ plus-58 point differential is the lowest of any of them. Their total margin of victory is barely a quarter of the plus-208 point differential racked up through nine games by the 2007 New England Patriots on their way to the NFL’s most recent undefeated regular season.
Eight other NFL teams this season have a higher point differential than the Chiefs. The one-loss Detroit Lions lead the NFL at plus-113, followed by the two-loss Buffalo Bills at plus-97. Even the three-loss Washington Commanders (plus-73) and Los Angeles Chargers (plus-68) rank above Kansas City.
Seven of Kansas City’s nine wins have come by a single score. Four have been in doubt until the final play of the game. It started back in September when the Chiefs beat the Ravens by a big toe and scraped past the Bengals thanks to a game-saving fourth-down pass interference penalty. Then earlier this month, the Chiefs won the overtime coin toss and drove for a touchdown to edge the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The crescendo came last Sunday against Denver when Kansas City pulled off a Houdini-esque escape to salvage a game that seemed all but lost. Leo Chenal clinched a 16-14 Chiefs victory by bowling over a Broncos lineman and diving to block Wil Lutz’s potential game-winning 35-yard field-goal attempt.
Leo Chenal is out of this world strong. I just watched the blocked field goal in slow-mo. He literally tossed the guy in front of him to the ground AND made the diving block.
UNREAL pic.twitter.com/GYH0D4AbeA
— how bout those CHIEFS (@hbtCHIEFS) November 10, 2024
“The thing that has impressed me with this team is that they don’t get down,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Monday. “That’s not what they are. They battle through stuff. And if somebody’s not doing well, they try to pick them up and do well in their area.
“You’d probably say that [the Broncos] outplayed us yesterday and then they end up not winning the game.”
The lingering question about these charmed Chiefs is how good they actually are. Are the two-time reigning Super Bowl champs lucky and vulnerable, as their legion of critics suggest? Or is their record in close games a testament to their formula of relying on an elite defense, a Super Bowl-proven head coach and sublimely talented quarterback?
Reality, as so often is the case, is somewhere in between. These Chiefs aren’t as dominant or explosive as many previous 9-0 teams, but they’re also far from the worst of the bunch.
Don’t tell me you’re not taking these Chiefs over the 2008 Kerry Collins-Jeff Fisher Tennessee Titans that couldn’t get out of the divisional round of the AFC playoffs. Or the 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers that faded badly in December and then surrendered 48 points to the Cleveland Browns in their opening playoff game.
It’s important to consider that these Chiefs have made it to mid-November without a loss despite facing the NFL’s eighth-hardest schedule thus far. This Sunday’s high-stakes matchup with Buffalo will be Kansas City’s fourth top-10-DVOA opponent. The nine teams that Kansas City has faced this season are 42-36 against opponents other than the Chiefs.
The number of close games that Kansas City has played is also not entirely by accident. The Chiefs have adjusted their style of play to fit a roster that is light on skill-position talent and facing significant pass-protection concerns.
Starting running back Isiah Pacheco has been on the injured reserve list since mid-September with a broken fibula. Receivers Rashee Rice and Marquise Brown both suffered season-ending injuries, depriving the Chiefs of an emerging star who thrives on underneath routes and a dangerous deep threat who creates space for others.
Even if the Chiefs had a full complement of weapons to deploy, left tackle issues might still limit their ability to go for big plays. They have to get the ball out quickly with starter Wanya Morris dealing with a right-knee injury and rookie backup Kingsley Suamataia not yet ready to protect Patrick Mahomes’ blindside.
The result is an offense that is second in the league in time of possession but among the NFL’s worst at producing chunk plays. The Chiefs are at their best this season when they rely on their defense, keep games close and give Mahomes the chance to win in the fourth quarter.
No, that doesn’t make Kansas City a juggernaut. No, that doesn’t make a team that has won three Super Bowls in six years a fluky fraud either.
Even last Sunday’s field-goal block wasn’t just a product of good luck. Kansas City identified a weak spot in the Broncos’ field-goal protection, attacked it three straight times during the course of the game and finally broke through when it mattered most.
“You’re obviously worried because it’s out of your control,” Mahomes said Sunday, “but at the same time I have trust in my teammates that they’re going to go out there and make a play.”
Call it resolve, call it making their own breaks, but the Chiefs’ 9-0 record is not luck.
Well, it’s not all luck anyway.
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