How the Chiefs came back from a 17-point deficit, explained by experts

The Kansas City Chiefs shocked absolutely no one with yet another comeback win. Here’s how they did it, according to experts.

The Kansas City Chiefs went down 17-0 and ended up winning 30-29. Are we surprised? This is the same team that went down by 24 against the Texans in the 2020 playoffs and ended up winning 51-31. It seems like the Chiefs play their best when they give opponents a huge head start. It’s sickening.

Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce really are those dudes.

Travis Kelce scored all four of the Chiefs touchdowns, which ties the single-game TD record for a Chiefs player. On the other side, Davante Adams scored three touchdowns and put up 124 yards on three catches, but it wasn’t enough for the Raiders.

Here’s what the experts are saying about how the Chiefs pulled this off.

Travis Kelce really did it for the Chiefs

Matt Conner of Arrowhead Addict talked about the importance of Travis Kelce:

“The Chiefs scored touchdowns on their first three possessions in the second half, all catches by Kelce on a career night, on long drives that featured key catches by JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mecole Hardman, and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. It was another chapter for a diversified offense that made the Chiefs look so good in Week 4 in primetime against the Buccaneers. Each drive went at least 55 yards.”

Patrick Mahomes confronted his offensive line

Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride paints a picture of how the Chiefs quarterback motivated his offensive line and swung momentum in the Chiefs’ direction:

“We’re going to win or lose this game because of y’all,” Mahomes told his protectors in the second quarter.

Starters Orlando Brown Jr., Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Andrew Wylie (and spot starter Nick Allegretti) heard their quarterback’s point.

“I think that was after Chandler Jones kind of got around me, and I just challenged them,” said Mahomes. “[The Raiders were] playing man coverage, we have to attack downfield, but you’re going to have to protect — and they responded. You saw from the end of the second quarter on, those guys kind of held those guys at bay — and those are some great pass rushers — so you like to see that out of a veteran offensive line now.”

The Chiefs are incredible with backs against the wall

The crew at CBS Sports discussed the Chiefs and their ability to work well under pressure. They also pointed to their third-down efficiency. Kansas City has the second-best third-down efficiency in the NFL (only to the Buffalo Bills, who they play next week) this season.

“The Chiefs excel when they are behind, taking the pressure and benefiting from it rather than collapsing underneath it. Kansas City stayed poised while trailing, while the Raiders got desperate and made questionable decisions, but more on that in the next category.

Kansas City’s efficiency on third down in the second quarter was a major difference maker from the first, where the third-and-outs were adding up.”

The pivotal play of the game for the Chiefs in win over Raiders

Here’s what Adam Teicher of ESPN had to say about the pivotal play of the game:

“With Andy Reid and the Chiefs still irate from a roughing the passer penalty that negated a Chris Jones sack, strip and fumble recovery, the Chiefs scrambled in the final seconds of the first half to get a 59-yard field goal from Matthew Wright to gain some momentum and cut their deficit to 20-10. The kick was the longest in the histories of both the Chiefs and Arrowhead Stadium.”

The Raiders beat themselves

Nick Shook at NFL.com discussed the Raiders and how they imploded on themselves. The Chiefs are always going to be tough to beat even with a double-digit lead, so beating yourself in these scenarios is not an option.

“We’ve seen plenty of leads evaporate in the NFL this season, but it remains rare to see a team blow a 17-point lead without committing a single turnover. Still, the Raiders found a way to do so against the typically explosive Chiefs, and when they review the tape, they’ll be rather upset with themselves. The amount of times Las Vegas ended up behind schedule was remarkable, and only topped by the gross total of penalties committed — 11 accepted for 99 yards — with many coming at the worst possible time. The most egregious arrived when Las Vegas managed to stop Kansas City and force a field goal attempt, which Matthew Wright missed from 37 yards out. Instead of getting the ball back facing a one-point deficit, a defensive holding penalty on Malcolm Koonce gave the Chiefs a fresh set of downs, which they used to score a touchdown to take a 30-23 lead. That advantage held to the end, for a whole other set of reasons we’ll cover in the next point.”