After being benched during the fourth quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Chiefs offensive tackle Wanya Morris reacted to his poor performance on Black Friday in Week 13.
“There’s no better time to learn than when you get your [expletive] beat,” Morris said, via Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star on November 29. “It sucks to get your [expletive] beat, but you can have two responses: You can lay down or you can get back up and try something new. I’m going to try something new.”
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explained why he chose to bench Morris, have left guard Joe Thuney slide over to left tackle, and backup Mike Caliendo fill in for Thuney at guard.
“I thought it was the right thing to do at that time. Just to solidify things,” Reid said, via Jordan Foote of Kansas City Chiefs on SI. “Pat (Mahomes) took a few hits there, and we were struggling at times.
Mahomes completed 26-of-46 pass attempts for 306 yards, one touchdown, and he was sacked five times. Kansas City’s leading receiver was DeAndre Hopkins, who had four catches on nine targets for 90 yards. Tight end Travis Kelce had a team-high seven receptions on 13 targets for 68 yards against the Raiders.
The Chiefs’ leading rusher was running back Isiah Pacheco, who carried the ball seven times for 44 yards.
Kansas City’s defense struggled to contain Las Vegas’ offense in Week 13. The unit gave up a season-high 116 rushing yards and 4.6 yards per carry to the Raiders. On top of that, tight end Brock Bowers caught 10 passes on 14 targets for 140 yards and one touchdown. All of his receptions came by way of quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who completed 23-of-35 pass attempts for 340 yards and two touchdowns, and he was also sacked three times.
In what was yet another close victory for the Chiefs, it took a fumble by O’Connell that was recovered by the Chiefs on Las Vegas’ final offensive drive of the game for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions to clinch the win.
The two-time defending Super Bowl champions are 2-0 against the Raiders this season and improved to 11-1 on the season with the win on Black Friday.
With the win, the Chiefs are the first team in the NFL to clinch a playoff berth.
