5 things we learned from the Chiefs’ ugly win against the Raiders

Some things continue to be trending in the wrong direction for the defending champs

Another week. Another win. And another game where the Kansas City Chiefs failed to play up to their own standards.

The offensive line and secondary continued to struggle. Still, the Chiefs found a way — on the back of quarterback Patrick Mahomes — to do enough to beat another bad team, topping the Las Vegas Raiders 19-17 on “Black Friday” in Arrowhead.

Here are five things we learned.

1. The pass rush still has a pulse

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For the past month, it seems like Chiefs’ fans have been consoling themselves by saying the pass rush would wake up from its hibernation once Charles Omenihu returned from injury; he would be the final spark that set the kindling ablaze

That appears to be at least partially correct.

It’s true that Omenihu returned from injury on Friday. It’s also true that the pass rush played better than it has in weeks. But Omenihiu wasn’t that much of a factor. That’s what we expected, because the Chiefs are still ramping him back up.

Chris Jones found a way to get home and sack the quarterback twice. George Karlaftis added another sack. But beyond taking down Raiders quarterback Aiden O’Connell, the Chiefs did a good job at getting their hands up in the passing lanes and batting balls down, doing as much as they could to assist Kansas City’s struggling secondary.

2. The Chiefs need D.J. Humphries to be ready to go

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When you thought Kansas City’s offensive tackles could not get any worse, the team said, “Here. Hold my beer.”

It’s hard to win in this league without two good offensive tackles. By the end of Friday’s game, they had one good guard lined up at left tackle — and that’s about it.

Wanya Morris looked worse than he has all year. At one point, he was the victim of a full-on Brad Pitt Achilles jump from Raiders’ edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson.

The only difference is the big bald dude in “Troy” put up more of a fight than Morris did.

Heading into this game, there was no question that Kansas City needs newly-signed left tackle D.J. Humphries to play at a serviceable level. But after Friday, you have to think the team will also want to draft another tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft — because we just can’t feel good about the development of the team’s young tackles.

3. If the Chiefs played the Giants this year, Daniel Jones would still be their quarterback

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The Kansas City secondary should be nicknamed “The QB Whisperers,” because it helps a struggling quarterback have a career day. The latest beneficiary of this motivational program is O’Connell, who dissected the Chiefs’ secondary with ease — just as the Carolina Panthers’ Bryce Young did in Week 12.

How do the Chiefs do it? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Play an elite slot cornerback on the outside.
2. Play five safeties to make up the rest of your dime defense.
3. Give every receiver at least three yards of separation on every route.

I’ve been beating this drum for weeks. You can’t tell me these are the best cornerbacks available on the market. There is a diamond in the rough out there somewhere.

I don’t care if he’s a high school football coach in Texas whose career was derailed by injury — like a football version of Dennis Quaid in “The Rookie.”

Wherever and whoever they are, Kansas City general manager Brett Veach needs to find them.

4. Travis Kelce is flirting with 1,000 yards again

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There is no doubt that Travis Kelce has lost a step — but he is still playing at a very high level.

With five games remaining, he has 637 yards receiving.

It’s a long shot that he’ll make it to 1,000 yards this year. He needs 72 yards per game. With defenses keying in on him (and with Mahomes’ penchant for spreading the ball around), it might be hard for the old war horse to get over those yards. On the other hand, with the emergence of Noah Gray and DeAndre Hopkins taking some attention away from him, nothing is impossible.

All it will take is one big game to put the old boy back on track.

5. You don’t luck into 11 wins and a playoff berth in November

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This team has issues. It has glaring problems that need to be fixed. It also has a 1.5-game lead on the Buffalo Bills for No. 1 seed (and a bye) in the playoffs.

On Friday — with five games left in the season — the Chiefs secured a playoff berth. As much as we criticize the holes on the team’s roster, that does not happen by accident. You have to be doing 1,000 other things right to make up for the other things going wrong.

What the Chiefs have accomplished this season is remarkable by any measure. If the team can figure out a way to continue to win these close games, it can post the best record in franchise history.

Yes… that’s a big if. But no matter how the rest of the regular season plays out, the Chiefs have punched their ticket for an opportunity to compete for the Super Bowl — and get three-peat.

Bonus: It was good to see Isiah Pacheco’s energy back on offense

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They say you don’t know what you got until it’s gone.

Here’s the corollary: Sometimes you don’t know what you had until it comes back.

When running back Isiah Pacheco returned from injury on Friday, it was refreshing to see his infectious energy breathe additional life into an offense that — aside from its offensive line woes — has been clicking pretty well.

Welcome back, Pop.