In what appeared to be not much of a contest at all, the Kansas City Chiefs were able to secure a 26-3 win over the Chicago Bears. The 11-4 Chiefs appear to be on the track ready to roll into the post-season with gusto, momentum, and a five-game winning streak.
There were several records created during this game:
- Patrick Mahomes is the first quarterback in the NFL to have 75 passing touchdowns and 9,000 passing yards in his first 30 games.
- Tyreek Hill became the fastest player in Chiefs history to have 4,000 career receiving yards.
- Travis Kelce is now the fastest tight end to 500 catches in NFL history, and he did it in 95 games.
- Kelce also is the first tight end to have back-to-back seasons of 1,200 receiving yards or more in the history of the game.
- Harrison Butker hit a career-long field goal from 56 yards.
- Kansas City secured its seventh road game victory of the year, which is the most in a season since 1966.
Chiefs Takeaways
The Chiefs took control of the game in the first quarter and decided to not give it up again. Offensively, they appear to be getting back to where they have been. The defense has shown improvement, not only over last year but over the last four games, as they’ve really started playing a more complete game. Sunday’s game against the Bears was the fourth game in a row in which the Chiefs held their opponent to 20 points or less.
The defense, while improving, appears to go through periods of taking several penalties either in a row or grouped together in a quarter. Sunday’s fourth quarter was no exception, and if the Bears’ offense were better than they are, they might have gotten points out of those yellow flags.
Overall, the Chiefs were looking like a team on a mission to strut into the post-season on a roll. Continued improvement and clean-up of their game will determine how strong their resolve to win the Superbowl is.
Bears Takeaways
The Bears only wandered beyond the 25-yard line of the Chiefs once and had 234 total yards on offense the entire game. The offense wasn’t able to score until the third quarter, and that field goal became the only points they put up for the entire game. The blame can’t be laid solely at the feet of Mitchell Trubisky. He continues to show why the Bears took a gamble with choosing him second overall. The main problem he faces is that he doesn’t have the offensive weapons Mahomes has.
The offense also continues to drop passes and had issues with pass protection. The lack of execution in this game against the Chiefs is just another reminder of how their season has been going. The defense had their contribution to the season’s woes with penalties and sloppy playing.
The Bears will need to finish out the season and look toward fixing both sides of the ball if they want to get back into the postseason and become the team they’re supposed to be next year.
