Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ division-clinching win over Bengals
The Chiefs are headed back to the NFL playoffs via the same path they’ve taken for eight years now.
Well, in one aspect, anyway — by winning the division crown.
But oh so different in most other ways.
The Chiefs beat the Cincinnati Bengals 25-17 at home Sunday, shaking off their worst outing of the season six days earlier against the Las Vegas Raiders.
It was more impressive than the final score indicated. Let’s get to the reasons why. Here are five observations from immediately after the game:
1. The rare deep pass
At long last, the 2023 Chiefs have a fourth-quarter comeback to their name.
But it was lifted by a third-quarter play.
The Chiefs opened the final quarter with the ball at the Bengals’ 4-yard line, trailing by just one, after a 67-yard bomb from Patrick Mahomes to Rashee Rice.
Rice burned cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt off the line of scrimmage. To be fair, if Taylor-Britt did his homework, he couldn’t have expected Rice to run the fly pattern, which is at the heart of the uniqueness of the play.
It was Rice’s first reception on a deep pass all season. He has the shortest average depth of target in the NFL among 86 receivers with at least 40 targets this season — just 5.1 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
A bit more here. Rice caught the ball about 22 yards downfield, and he took it another 43 yards to the 11-yard line.
That gave the Chiefs a layup to turning around a fourth-quarter deficit.
2. A breakthrough? Close enough.
The final score might have not have fully illustrated it, but this represented the closest thing to a breakthrough that we’ve seen from the Chiefs’ offense in several weeks.
Or maybe the closest thing we will see.
The Chiefs were at 7.0 yards per play, even after the a couple of kneel-downs deflated that number — their second-best mark of the season.
Why? They finally hit on some big plays — a lot of them.
The Chiefs had four gains of at least 35 yards, their most of the season. We’ve covered the completion to Rice. But Mahomes also found Justin Watson on a deep crosser for 41 yards. And Isiah Pacheco had carries of 37 and 35 yards.
It’s not a coincidence that the Chiefs made fewer mistakes Sunday — they required fewer snaps to get the ball downfield. Funny how that works out.
The Chiefs can’t ignore their red-zone frustrations, and it’s worth mentioning, but they scored on seven of the nine times they had the ball.
That’s progress.
And it sure had the appearance of a more simple game plan that prompted that progress.
3. The Marquez Valdes-Scantling predicament
Wasn’t all positive. You don’t need me to say Marquez Valdes-Scantling has to catch the third-down pass on the final drive of the first half.
But if it makes you feel better, I’ll say it anyway: An NFL receiver has no excuse to drop that ball.
And most should make a play on the third-quarter deep ball thrown his way, too. Mahomes, who said Wednesday he needed to get Valdes-Scantling involved in the offense, gave him a chance on a fly pattern. But Valdes-Scantling’s strength is not tracking the ball in the air, and it fell an inch beyond his hands.
Let’s access the big-picture here, though.
What does it say about the Chiefs’ current options that Valdes-Scantling recorded 61 snaps without a catch last week and then drops a ball like that (his third drop of the season, compared to just 21 catches) — and he’s still in the lineup?
I’ll go ahead and answer that question: It says that the Chiefs don’t have much confidence that the rest of their receivers group can either run the correct routes or run-block (or both).
Because that’s about the only thing Valdes-Scantling is consistently providing within this offense. And he stays on the field anyway.
4. All the sideline juice
Another week, another sideline incident worthy of discussion. It’s among the most defining characteristics of this team.
It was Mahomes and the referees three weeks ago. Travis Kelce and head coach Andy Reid last week.
And on Sunday, linebacker Willie Gay and defensive end Charles Omenihu got into an argument, with Gay jumping up from his perch on the bench and needing to be restrained by teammate Nick Bolton and a position coach.
I’ve said it before, but it’s worth mentioning more than once. That the Chiefs have become comfortable enough to air out their frustration publicly is an indication that concerns outside the building are matched inside the locker room.
Can’t help but wonder if Sunday’s result will be enough to change that.
5. Hey, an opening-drive touchdown
It ended well. We’ve seen 10 of those this year.
It started well. We’ve rarely seen that this year, at least at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs put together an opening-drive touchdown inside their home venue — for the first time this season. In their last try there.
That’s not a misprint. The Chiefs nearly went an entire season without turning their first possession into a touchdown.
Yet it looked so easy Sunday. The Chiefs marched 75 yards in seven plays, only once facing third down. They turned that third down into the 8-yard touchdown throw to Pacheco, who ran a rarely used angle route out of the backfield.
This story was originally published December 31, 2023 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ division-clinching win over Bengals."