Chiefs know they might be without another offensive star
HOUSTON — With its suffocating defense and efficient, underrated quarterback, the Kansas City Chiefs looked on Saturday like a legitimate threat to reach the Super Bowl out of the wide-open AFC.
Only now they may need to find a way to overcome another key injury to an offensive playmaker.
The Chiefsc face the prospect of playing next weekend’s divisional round on the road without their leading receiver, Jeremy Maclin, who left Saturday’s game in the third quarter in tears after straining his right knee. He will undergo an MRI on Sunday.
Their ability to not only survive but also thrive despite losing an integral offensive weapon has been a hallmark of their improbable turnaround this season.
The Chiefs were discounted and largely forgotten after losing star running back Jamaal Charles to a season-ending knee injury Oct. 11. But after dropping to 1-5 the following week, they haven’t lost since. They have reeled off 11 straight victories, including their first playoff win since 1994 with the 30-0 victory over the Houston Texans in Saturday’s wild-card round.
Most impressive — and most encouraging for their playoff hopes — was that they did not flinch after losing Maclin, who led the Chiefs with 87 receptions for 1,088 yards. Quarterback Alex Smith finished off an 11-play, 94-yard drive by finding Maclin’s replacement, rookie Chris Conley, in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
“I don’t think anyone blinked because we have been doing that for a while now,” quarterback Alex Smith said of the team’s perseverance. “When you lose Jamaal early in the year, a guy like him, and you overcome it, all of that stuff stays with you. I think you get the confidence from doing it.”
It’s the latest setback for a team that has won almost while playing in obscurity this season. On Saturday, though, the football-watching world saw the Chiefs dominate a team in all three phases, albeit an overmatches Texans team whose playoff berth was largely the result of playing in the inferior AFC South.
Second in the league this season with a turnover margin of plus-14, the Chiefs intercepted Brian Hoyer four times and also recovered Hoyer’s fumble after a sack.
“The defense was just dominant, dominant,” Smith said. “I thought they were suffocating. Besides that one long run (a 49-yard run by Alfred Blue), they never really had much. For them, they played lights out today.”
And in a game that was expected to be a low-scoring affair, Knile Davis’ 106-yard opening kickoff return for a touchdown — the second-longest in postseason history — deflated the crowd at NRG Stadium and gave the Chiefs an early jolt of momentum.
Sometimes overlooked because of how stout Kansas City’s defense has been is the fact that Smith continues to show he is more than merely a game manager. Aside from an early errant deep pass that would have resulted in a touchdown, and an interception that deflected off Maclin, Smith was excellent, completing 17 of 22 passes.
“Alex was on point,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “Very focused. Nobody works harder than Alex Smith … Even when Jeremy went down, he went right back to Conley for the touchdown. I mean, that was a nice job there.”
Tight end Travis Kelce, who had eight catches for 128 yards, said he’s most impressed with Smith’s intensity.
“Non-stop, keeping us going, keeping everybody under control,” Kelce said. “It’s a hard thing to do, especially in the playoffs. You’ve got so many distractions and things like that.”
And now the Chiefs have another distraction on the injury front. But for them, it’s a familiar script.
“We’ve got a group that I don’t think they think twice,” Smith said. “They just go. It is who we are.”
Follow Eric Prisbell on Twitter @EricPrisbell.
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