Winners and losers from the KC Chiefs’ Week 13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders

It wasn’t pretty, but how many wins were there for the Kansas City Chiefs this season?

Andy Reid’s team picked up another win on Friday, this time fending off a comeback attempt from the Las Vegas Raiders and escaping with a 19-17 triumph in Week 13. It took just about everything on both sides of the ball – and special teams. to score enough points and prevent the Las Vegas offense from taking a late lead. Nonetheless, Kansas City earned its 11th win of the year and remains in the driver’s seat for the AFC’s top playoff seed.

With that in mind, let’s highlight some of the Chiefs’ biggest winners and losers from Week 13 of the regular season.

Friday marked exactly two months since Chris Jones last recorded a sack for the Chiefs. He had an additional two of them in Week 13 against the Raiders. Both of his big plays came on third down, with the first being a third-and-goal takedown to force a field goal and the next being a sack to force a punt. Jones manages to rush both sacks off the edge, which is always an interesting option for him when the matchups are favorable. The game’s best interior pass rusher came back to his senses Friday and found ways to win throughout the defensive line.

As has been the case all season, Kansas City’s left tackle play left a lot of questions on the table this week. Wanya Morris struggled mightily on Friday, committing two nasty false start penalties and also losing multiple times to K’Lavon Chaisson. Like Jones, Morris also impacted the game on third down, but in a negative way. Two specific instances of him getting torched in pass protection resulted in a Patrick Mahomes sack and a punt or field goal attempt. Reid even benched Morris in favor of left tackle Joe Thuney late in the game and later explained why he made the move. It was a game to forget for Morris that is turning into a season to forget for him.

The disclaimer for praising both of the Chiefs’ leading tight ends is that they opened one of the team’s second-half drives with back-to-back drops. With that in mind, it’s worth giving credit to both Travis Kelce and Noah Gray for their work in Week 13. Kelce led all Kansas City pass catchers with seven receptions Friday and added 68 yards to his year. Gray, not one to be outdone too much, had his third straight game with at least four goals and four receptions. With Peyton Hendershot, Jared Wiley and Jody Fortson all on the injured reserve list, the Chiefs are relying on their best at tight end. It worked against the Raiders.

A little over a month ago, the Chiefs expressed their confidence in Nazeeh Johnson as someone ready to replace Jaylen Watson as the club’s No. 2 starting cornerback. Before November ended, the third-year senior was benched in a game and has several bad reps on tape. Notably on Friday, he was burned by Jakobi Meyers for a 43-yard gain early in the second quarter. This meant that he had to go to the bench and Joshua Williams Johnson later replaced him. Kansas City desperately misses Watson and its only hope now is that Williams can be a little steadier than Johnson.

Since Drue Tranquill signed a multi-year deal in the offseason, his play at the linebacker position has no longer been justified. On Friday, however, he looked better than he had in weeks. The veteran defenseman seemed much more fluid in coverage and had a nice play on second-and-16 on the first pass that stood out. On an otherwise excellent day for the rookie, he also kept up with Raiders tight end Brock Bowers as best he could. Tranquill improved in Week 13 and resembled his 2023 self, which is good news for the Chiefs if he can get more frequent success from this.

With Jawaan Taylor coming out of the gates well this season, the pass defense on the right side of the offensive line has declined. Therein lies a difference between the Chiefs and Raiders’ first game of the year and Friday’s game. Additionally, the veteran tackle was assessed two illegal formation penalties, reminiscent of last season. The first turned a second-and-15 into a second-and-20, and the last partially contributed to him losing his reputation and losing Patrick Mahomes trying to get away. Taylor can finish this game and get back on track, but the penalties focused on his alignment are at least a little concerning.

Read more: Four takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders