Following a 30-0 wild card win over the Houston Texans on Saturday, the Kansas City Chiefs now head to New England to take on the defending champs in the divisional round next weekend.
As flawed as it might have been, Saturday’s performance represented the Chiefs’ 11th consecutive win. They have now outscored their opponents by an average of nearly two touchdowns during this span. They are also plus-20 in the all-important turnover battle during this massive winning streak.
The whole idea that you make your own luck represents this team to a T.
Sure Brian Hoyer (five total turnovers) was absolutely atrocious for the Texans on Saturday. At least two of his four interceptions were unforced.
That’s not really the point here. Kansas City’s defense came to play, and came to play big time.
Hoyer was sacked three times, hit another two times and saw himself face pressure nearly half the time he dropped back to pass.
Overall, eight of Houston’s drives went a total of 11 yards or less. Three of the team’s four drives that went 40-plus yards ended on interceptions with the fourth drive culminating in a turnover on downs.
It’s this type of dominating defense that has Kansas City two games away from earning its first Super Bowl trip since following the 1969 campaign.
Offensively, it wasn’t that pretty.
Alex Smith struggled out of the gate, failing to lead the Chiefs to points on the team’s first two possessions. Kansas City’s ensuing two possessions to conclude the first half also ended prematurely with Cairo Santos field goals.
It was, however, two timely touchdown-scoring drives in the third and to start the final stanza that put this game away.
Those two drives saw Kansas City compile a combined 165 yards on 19 plays. For his part, Smith hit on 8-of-9 passes for 111 yards and a score.
In addition to taking 10 minutes off the clock, Kansas City pushed its lead to 27-0, pretty much ending any hopes that the Texans would be able to make a game of it.
It’s this type of knockout mentality that has defined the Chiefs’ 11-game winning streak. They aren’t doing it in a manner we have seen from champions of the past. Instead, it’s a methodical way of dominating the game and taking any potential momentum away from the opposition.
It’s also one of the primary ways to contend in the postseason against squads that are perceived to be more talented.
The indicators of success here are vast. And when combined, they could potentially lead to a hoisting of the Lombardi Trophy in Missouri.
Featuring a quarterback that simply doesn’t turn the ball over with an above-average running game and dominant defense, there is not another team currently remaining in the playoffs that Kansas City can’t beat.
Prior to throwing a first quarter interception, Alex Smith had put up a NFL-record 119 consecutive postseason passes without one.
This season alone, Smith has taken his mistake-free football to an entirely new level. He went 300-plus passes, from Week 4 up until mid December, without an interception. Overall, Smith threw seven regular season interceptions — his third consecutive season with seven picks or fewer.
We can talk about his inability to push the ball down the field. We can call him a game manager. We can even say that he’s not one of the primary reasons Kansas City has been successful.
But the way Smith plays quarterbacks fits perfectly with what the team is looking for in a quarterback.
When you have a signal caller that doesn’t turn the ball over and is able to move the chains, it makes the defense’s job that much easier. This has been the case for Kansas City throughout Smith’s three-year tenure with the team.
It’s also aided by the fact that Kansas City still boasts one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL.
Despite seeing Jamaal Charles miss the final 11 games of the regular season, this unit still ranked sixth in the league with 127.8 rushing yards per game.
If the Chiefs can continue to have success in these three aspects of the game, there is absolutely no reason to believe they can’t go into Gillette Stadium and defeat the Patriots next weekend.
As mentioned above, all the indicators are there for sustained success. It’s now all about continuing what we have seen over the past three months.