It's beginning to look a lot like the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs have their swagger back. And the timing of this resurgence couldn't be much better, with the conference's playoff picture coming into focus.
A pregame speech and stomp of the hometown logo at midfield didn't bode well for the visiting Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. The disrespect only motivated Patrick Mahomes and his offense, as they cruised to a 48-9 blowout win at Arrowhead Stadium. It was the Chiefs' sixth straight victory.
"They've been to two straight Super Bowls, and it wasn't that they were bored early. I think it's very difficult for a team to conjure up everything that made it possible for them to go to a Super Bowl," Westwood One voice Kevin Harlan told The Zach Gelb Show on Monday. "It's very tough to recapture that same spirit and same technique, in terms of prep, and all the things that went into the long grind to make it to a Super Bowl...
"Now, I think they're interested. Now, I think they see, 'Wait a minute, we can sleepwalk through a 4-4 start and right now we're No. 3 in the AFC? We've got eight wins?'... The worst thing that's happened in the NFL is, Kansas City has awakened. That's going to be a problem for the rest of the teams. Listen, we only have four weeks after tonight, just four games left. This is when teams will certainly make or break their position..."
Mahomes made light work of Las Vegas' defense, throwing for 258 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions on just 24 pass attempts. By the half, Kansas City led by a whopping 32 points, and the unit's stellar performance was capped off by a 51-yard rushing score midway through the fourth quarter. Overall, the Chiefs rushed for 132 yards on 30 carries with three touchdowns.
The Chiefs' staggering margin of victory wouldn't have been possible without sheer dominance on defense. Tyrann Mathieu recorded an interception and a fumble recovery, Mike Hughes forced two fumbles and returned another for six points, and the unit allowed 290 total yards of offense. Since the start of their winning streak on Nov. 1, the Chiefs have allowed 10.8 points per game.
Kansas City (9-4), which now owns a one-game lead for first in the AFC West, will visit the rival Los Angeles Chargers (8-5) in a marquee Week 15 matchup on Thursday night. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Chiefs have a 60-percent chance to win the division and a 19-percent chance to earn the conference's first-round bye.
The entire NFL conversation between Harlan and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.