Ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs' prime-time pummeling of the Chicago Bears, Patrick Mahomes was the main draw. The reigning MVP seeking vengeance against the team that passed on him in the 2017 draft and traded up for a mercurial Mitchell Trubisky, or something like that.
But Mahomes' play wasn't the star of the show on Sunday night. That was reserved for the defense that held his opponent to just three points.
"Defense was unbelievable, I thought," Chiefs coach Andy Reid gushed after the game. "I think (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) had a great game plan and the guys believe in it. So you're getting the speed and accurate tackling which is tough."
Kansas City held its opponent to just three points for the second straight game, the first time a Reid-coached team has done that in his head-coaching career. Since Week 11, the Chiefs have allowed a league-best 9.6 points per game, keying a five-game winning streak that has propelled Kansas City to a fourth-straight division title and, if the Chiefs get lucky, a first-round bye.
All the while, K.C.'s offense has quietly underperformed, scoring under 27 points for the third consecutive game, the Chiefs' longest streak since Mahomes became the starter in 2018. No matter for a Kansas City corral coming into its own in every phase at exactly the right time.
"Defensively, we're taking great pride in getting other teams to play our game in the back end," safety Tyrann Mathieu, one of a few key offseason acquisitions made by Chiefs GM Brett Veach, told reporters. "Offensively, defensively, special teams, I think we're able to wreck a game. I think we have the control of football games."
Kansas City had control of Sunday's 26-3 victory from the get-go. The Chiefs entered halftime with a 17-0 lead, having scored on each of their three first-half drives and held Chicago scoreless on each of its four first-half possessions. Kansas City also held a 5:32 time of possession advantage at the break. The Bears finished with just 234 total yards and four yards per play.
"Offensively, defensively, and special teams, everybody's coming together, the whole team," receiver Tyreek Hill said.
One of the recent pieces to come to Kansas City made his Chiefs debut Sunday night, as former Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals pass rusher Terrell Suggs logged his first 17 snaps in Missouri red and white.
The 37-year-old 17-year veteran noted after the win that joining the Chiefs after they picked him up off waivers to help replace the injured Alex Okafor and Emmanuel Ogbah has been an exciting development despite his reported inclination to play with Baltimore.
"It is really exciting to join this team, the swagger that they're playing with," Suggs told reporters. "There's not much I can do. They were in the AFC Championship last year. The only thing I can do is help us get back there and help us actually punch the ticket this time."
The Chiefs already in the building don't see it that way though.
"It was great to have Suggs join us," Reid said. "Terrell did a nice job today. First couple times he was in he got pressures on the quarterback and that's a nice mix for a guy that's probably a future Hall of Famer."
Added Mathieu, "He's a veteran. All you have to do is tell him where to line up and he'll take it from there. He's been a great addition. We've been preaching championship swagger. Obviously, he's a former Super Bowl champion.
"I think it's a perfect time to add a guy like that to your team."
The perfect time being the stretch run. Kansas City (11-4) is a home win over the Los Angeles Chargers and a New England Patriots loss in Week 17 away from clinching a first-round bye. At the very least, the Chiefs will host a playoff game against a wild-card team, now stocked with a fully loaded and improved defense.
"Things didn't start off great but we was able to keeping adding, here and there," Reid said of Spagnuolo's unit. "I can't say enough about the growth of our defense."
In the coming weeks, neither will Kansas City's opponents.
