The Chiefs became the first team to book a spot in the playoffs on Friday, but they didn’t exactly do it in style.
A botched snap by the Raiders in the final seconds allowed the Chiefs to escape with a 19-17 home win on a day when they blew a 16-3 lead by allowing two long touchdown passes. The Chiefs defense gave up 434 yards while the offense only reached the end zone once and went three-and-out on their final two possessions of the fourth quarter.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie said “it’s always a little disappointing, a little frustrating” when the team fails to reach the standard they’ve set for themselves and the Chiefs have grown accustomed to feeling that way during a season that’s seen them consistently do just enough to win games. Defensive tackle Chris Jones didn’t disagree with his teammate, but he noted that the outcome beat the alternative and that the close games can serve the Chiefs well in the long run.
“When you look at the playoffs, most games are close, down-to-the-wire type of games, so there’s a lot we can build from this as a team overall,” Jones said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “We’re just going to keep on winning, keep on winning. You can learn a lot from winning. It is better to win than have a pretty loss. We’ll take an ugly win, build from it and continue to get better.”
Time will tell if the run of close wins is a sign of a team with championship DNA making sure they are in position to win another one or if they foreshadow a playoff loss to a team that doesn’t fold the way the Raiders did on Friday. As long as they keep squeezing out victories, the Chiefs will get a chance to answer those questions on their home field.
