The Kansas City Chiefs, with a rich history and a current dominant record, are facing a unique situation. Covered by Adam Teicher for 20 seasons for the Kansas City Star and now part of ESPN since 2013, the team's journey this season has been one of close calls and narrow victories.

Motivation in Close Games

Patrick Mahomes, the star quarterback, believes that the weekly close games keep the team focused. "It keeps you motivated, which I think can be a good thing in the end," he said. Looking back at the 2020 season when they lost the Super Bowl after a dominant regular season, he noted that sometimes teams can start to coast. But last year, despite a less-than-ideal regular season, they continued to work hard and ended the year playing their best football. This hope is that with all these close finishes, they can keep getting wins and stay hungry for more improvement.

The Chiefs are currently 11-1, tied with the Detroit Lions for the best record in the NFL. Most of their victories are by one-score margins, and six have been decided in the last play or two. Their most recent win against the Las Vegas Raiders was a nail-biter, with the Raiders on the edge of field goal range but fumbling, allowing the Chiefs to escape with a 19-17 victory.

Offensive Improvements

Mahomes believes the team has done better offensively this season. "We’ve done better at executing the offense, going to the right positions. I’ve done a better job of giving guys chances to make plays," he said. However, there are still areas for improvement, such as deep shots to Xavier (Worthy) and in the red zone. "There are plays and games that if we just make that play, the offense score is 30 points and then we’re not even having this discussion," he added.

In their last two games, Mahomes has been sacked five times each. The Chiefs have benched starting left tackles Wanya Morris and rookie Kingsley Suamataia during the season. Last week, they signed veteran tackle D.J. Humphries, who is likely to start against the Los Angeles Chargers if he's ready. Mahomes said the instability at left tackle has not affected his play. "I’ve played with all those guys before and I know those guys are out there battling. They’re out there and they’ve played winning football before and so I just go about my business, go about my process and try to stay within the scheme of the offense and then when stuff breaks down I try to go out there and make plays."

Upset After Sacks

Mahomes was visibly upset after a third-down sack in the fourth quarter against the Raiders. The Chiefs made a change at left tackle for their next series, replacing Morris with guard Joe Thuney. Mahomes said he didn't speak with coach Andy Reid about the change. "I was more upset just because I felt like there were people open. We hadn’t scored in the red zone and so I knew that was a big drive and I think I was just more upset about the fact that we didn’t execute at a high enough level in the red zone."