Despite win, Chiefs say they have 'room to improve' to hit top gear - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos for the 16th consecutive time on Thursday night while winning their fifth straight game and moving to an AFC-best 5-1.

But much of the talk in their locker room after their 19-8 victory was about its uninspiring manner. While the Chiefs on defense strangled Russell Wilson and the Broncos for most of the game, allowing Denver its only touchdown midway through the fourth quarter, Patrick Mahomes and the offense were searching for answers.

The Chiefs scored one touchdown in five trips inside the Denver 20 and needed four field goals from Harrison Butker, including a 60-yarder on the final play of the first half, to prevail.

Even Kansas City coach Andy Reid, who has never seen his team claim an ugly victory, said, «We strive for something better than what we're doing right now.''

The Chiefs aren't exactly struggling on offense this season. They are ninth in scoring at 24.5 points per game and seventh in yards at 382 yards per game.

However, that's below the standards they've set since Mahomes became their starter in 2018. To win games, they've had to rely on their defense, which against the Broncos held an opponent to 10 points or fewer for the third time this season and took a shutout into the fourth quarter for the second time.

»Luckily for us, our defense is playing great so we can go through these growing pains and try to get better and better,'' Mahomes said. «The talent is there. You can see it in spurts.

»I thought we did a great job of staying patient, getting the ball down the field, but in this league, three points and seven points is just such a big difference, and so I think if we found a way to execute in the red zone and score those touchdowns,