Raiders Week Part 2: How the West Was Won

                In the 2017 season, the last game of that year against the Broncos, made little difference in the grand scheme of things and did not do much of anything to the playoff picture, so Chiefs rookie QB Patrick Mahomes was the starter. the game at the end of the 2018 regular season could not have been more different. If the Chiefs beat the Raiders, they would receive the number 1 seed in the playoffs and be the champs of the AFC west three years in a row, lose, and they fall to one of the lower seeds and hand over the AFC west title to the LA Chargers. Needless to say, a lot was on the line, as the Raiders rolled into Arrowhead on Sunday, and what would follow was one of the greatest beat downs of a team for the Chiefs this season.

                As a football fan, it always makes you happy to see your team defeat an opposing team, however, to see your team utterly dominate a bitter rival, in a game where everything is on the line, is one of the sweetest of victories. Typically, this is the part of my blog where I would rehash the games bigger plays, and there will be some of that here, but what is even more important than the Chiefs 35-3 drudging of the Raiders, is what was accomplished by doing so. By defeating the Raiders on Sunday, the Chiefs secured the number 1 seed in the playoffs. What that means, is this weekend (known as wild card weekend) while other teams are fighting it out, the Chiefs sit at home and rest, more important than that however, is that the number 1 seed is also granted home field throughout the entire playoffs, meaning, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Arrowhead Stadium, and the team that lives there does not take kindly to trespassers on their land. The win over the Raiders, also makes the Chiefs back to back to back AFC West champs. On a day where many records were set, this is the first time in the 59 year history of the franchise, that they have won the AFC west 3 seasons in a row, and while we are on the topic of records, let us look at a few others, shall we?

                On 1^st and 10, Mahomes lobbed the ball for Tyreek “The Cheetah” Hill. Hill caught the pass in stride and the Cheetah was loose, taking a 67 yard touchdown to the house. This TD pass would give QB Pat Mahomes 49 on the season, but would set a record for the Cheetah for single season receiving yards with 1,445, eclipsing Derrick Alexander’s mark of 1,391. The Cheetah was not the only Chief to enter the record books on Sunday. When big #87 Travis Kelce reached up to secure a 25 yard pass from Mahomes, he logged his 103rd reception of the season, breaking the record of 102, previously held by Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez, not only that, but he would also break the record for receiving yards for a tight end in a single season, passing the previous record set by Rob “The Gronk” Gronkowski, but the biggest record of the day came on 3^rd and 11, from the Chiefs own 11 yard line and the offense threatening to sputter out and give the ball back to the Raiders. Mahomes dropped back to pass and launched a 89 yard bomb to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who back peddled into the end zone, giving Mahomes his 50^th touchdown pass of the season and giving him well over 5,000 yards passing. The Chiefs defense, while not breaking any records, would spend the afternoon terrorizing the Raiders offense, wreaking havoc and sacking Raiders QB Derrick Carr 3 times, forcing multiple fumbles, strip sacks and two interceptions, one of them a pick 6 by dirty Dan Sorensen.

                On a day where it mattered the most, the offense exploded and the defense gobbled up Raiders left and right,. With the AFC west won and the number 1 seed secured, The Chiefs insured that if any AFC team wants to go to super bowl 53, they will have to go through Arrowhead and Chiefs Kingdom to do so.

Who shall the Chiefs face next? watch the wild card weekend to see who will be making that journey to Arrowhead and join the Blind QB as we also head to Arrowhead stadium for their first playoff game.