Reid credits complete effort for Chiefs' win

Dec 12, 2017 - 1:12 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It took a long 40 days and 40 nights between victories for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Sunday's dominating 26-15 triumph over the Oakland Raiders arguably ranks as the team's most complete game since Week 3 for head coach Andy Reid's squad.

"I thought they did a good job really in all three phases," Reid said. "That was important, something we hadn't done in a few weeks. We're tough when that takes place."

The Chiefs opened the season as the toast of the NFL with a five-game winning streak featuring an upset over New England and shootout wins against Philadelphia and Houston.

But the red-hot offense masked problems on the defensive side of the football. The Chiefs dropped six of their next seven games with the offense and defense alternatively turning in blame-worthy performances.

But entering the fourth quarter of the season with the AFC West title on the line, Reid's team appeared to find its swagger Sunday. That's especially true for a defense that received the lion's share of blame for the team's latest struggles.

"Defensively, I thought our defensive line, our secondary played really well," Reid said. "The secondary I thought flew around and did some nice things back there. We had a couple of picks and that was important. Turnovers are also important there."

The win over Oakland puts the Chiefs atop the AFC West with the Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams sit 7-6 on the season, but the Chiefs own a win over the Chargers on the road. The winner of Saturday's night's game between the Chiefs and Chargers in Kansas City can take a commanding lead in the division with two games to play.

Reid always stresses the importance of December games, especially divisional games at home.

"We always say if you're in the last quarter of the season or so and you're within shooting distance here, you get to the month of December and you're in the mix, then every game becomes very important," Reid said.

The key against the Chargers and building toward a potential playoff drive, however, rests upon the team's defense continuing to turn out efforts like Sunday's dismantling of the Raiders.

"I thought we flew around, I thought we rallied to the ball well and then I thought we tackled well," Reid said. "We've had spurts of that over that last few weeks, but it hasn't been as consistent as really anybody wanted, including the players. I thought they did a real nice job with that."

NOTES: S Steven Terrell landed on injured reserve Monday afternoon, bringing an end to his season. The team did not immediately specify a reason for the move. Terrell played Sunday despite a finger injury, and intercepted a pass on the team's final defensive snap. He did not show any obvious signs of injury and spoke to reporters after the game. The team promoted rookie S Leon McQuay to take his place. ... S Eric Murray did not play against Oakland, missing his second straight game with a high-ankle sprain. It remains unclear if Murray can return for this Saturday's game. ... C Mitch Morse did not play against Oakland after aggravating a left foot sprain that kept him out of the lineup for five games earlier this season. His availability this week remains in doubt. ... CB Marcus Peters returned to the team following a one-game suspension handed down by head coach Andy Reid. The club expects Peters to start at left cornerback against the Chargers. ... DE Allen Bailey played 49 percent of the team's defensive snaps after being limited in practice during the week with a sprained knee. ... LB Tamba Hali played a season-high 30 snaps against Oakland. The team rested the veteran pass rusher much of the week after moving practices to the club's indoor training facility, which includes artificial turf. The team prefers to limit Hali's time on artificial surfaces to reduce wear and tear on his knee. ... DT Bennie Logan played just nine defensive snaps Sunday. He practiced in full during the week despite the club listing him on the injury report with a knee issue.



REPORT CARD VS. RAIDERS

--PASSING OFFENSE: C-plus -- Quarterback Alex Smith saw drops and penalties turn a stellar outing into a pedestrian effort. Tight ends Travis Kelce and Demetrius Harris both dropped certain touchdown passes on balls that hit their hands. A Kelce touchdown came off the board due to a penalty on right tackle Mitchell Schwartz. Add three touchdowns to Smith's line of 20-of-34 passing for 268 yards with an interception and a 26-0 Chiefs lead after three quarters becomes a 38-0 rout. Three receivers topped 70 yards receiving for the game, and the passing game did what it needed to do with a defensive delivering a shutdown performance.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus -- The Chiefs finally got rookie running back Kareem Hunt started early and he never stopped, breaking out of his five-game slump and picking up 116 yards and a touchdown with a 4.6 yards-per-carry average. Backup Charcandrick West chipped in 25 more yards and a touchdown on three carries as the Chiefs tallied 165 yards rushing on the Raiders' defense. Hunt came close to breaking a couple of runs for big gains, and that was the only blemish on an otherwise solid effort in the run game for the backfield and the offensive line.

--PASS DEFENSE: A -- Raiders quarterback Derek Carr picked up some garbage statistics late, but the Chiefs defense won the game by holding Derek Carr to 11 of 23 passing for 69 yards and an interception through the first three quarters. Defensive lineman Chris Jones led an aggressive push to collapse the pocket up the middle, and linebacker Justin Houston delivered the edge pass rush to put the heat on Carr. The secondary played aggressively even with All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters out with a one-game suspension. The Chiefs collected three sacks and five quarterback hits while breaking up nine passes, arguably the unit's best performance of the year.

--RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus -- The Raiders averaged a gaudy 6.4 yards per carry, but the big first-half deficit forced them to abandon the run game early. Marshawn Lynch rushed just seven times for 61 yards and a touchdown. This was far from the defense's best effort against the run, but the group did what the team needed on a day when the pass defense carried the team.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: B-plus -- Kicker Harrison Butker started a new streak after seeing his club-record 23 field goals in a row come to an end last week. Butker was perfect on four attempts, including a 53-yard kick that got the team going on its first drive. The Raiders gained zero return yards thanks to seven touchbacks from Butker and two fair catches on Dustin Colquitt's punts. The Chiefs' return game remains stuck in neutral without any big plays. The only real blemish came on a Colquitt punt that was partially blocked.

--COACHING: A -- Head coach Andy Reid called his shot, proclaiming last week his team needed to generate more pressure against the quarterback and tighten up its defense on the back end. The Chiefs did exactly that against the Raiders, making Carr uncomfortable most of the afternoon and tenaciously attacking receivers down field. Reid's decision to hand off play-calling to offensive coordinator Matt Nagy continues paying dividends. The Chiefs delivered their first complete effort in all three phases of the game against the Raiders, and Reid deserves the lion's share of the credit.