Five things that stood out about the Chiefs’ win vs. defending champion Rams

Well, that wasn’t quite the prize fight we’d envisioned when the schedule came out.

With good reason, to be sure.

The Chiefs slogged their way to 26-10 win against the Rams, the defending Super Bowl champions, but it didn’t come with many style points.

This was the largest betting line of the NFL season for a reason, but the Chiefs did what they were supposed to do — you know, if you ignore the ugly red zone numbers.

In any event, they’re 9-2 and still locked into control of where the AFC Championship Game will be played.

Here are five observations from immediately after the game:

1. That Travis Kelce rep

We’re running out of ways to describe what Travis Kelce is doing at age 33, and teams are running out of ways to stop it from happening.

Which brings me to the complication of the Rams’ efforts.

You have to applaud their scheme, spotting top cornerback Jalen Ramsey on Kelce some, given the final numbers: Kelce had just four catches for 57 yards.

But, man, one of those reps pops.

(It’s maybe about the only rep that really pops from this game.)

The Rams left Ramsey without help over the middle of the field, and Kelce cooked him with a jab step, twisting his hips to deke Ramsey. Kelce had several yards of separation and a clear path to the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown — aided by an embarrassing tackling effort from Derion Kendrick at the goal line.

2. The Chiefs defense

The final numbers will show a pretty dominant outing for the Chiefs defense.

But it comes with an asterisk.

Or several asterisks.

The Rams are the defending Super Bowl champions by title, but their offensive is hardly recognizable from the group in February — or even the group in September. They were playing with third-string quarterback Bryce Perkins, and without top receivers Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson. Add to that, their offensive line is one of the very worst in football even when healthy.

You can, however, only perform against the team on the opposite sideline, and the Chiefs defense had the kind of outing it should have had.

They held the Rams to just 198 yards of offense, the defense’s best number of the season. Bryan Cook, George Karlaftis and Chris Jones had sacks, and note that’s the first career for Cook and Karlaftis.

L’Jarius Sneed and Nick Bolton intercepted passes late to offset an offense that couldn’t seem to seal the game on its own.

It’s enough to start wondering if the Chiefs are taking another step defensively, even throwing out of the evidence of this game. The defense was really good in the second half in Los Angeles — granted, after a pretty terrible opening half — after allowing only 315 yards to the Jaguars and 229 to the Titans.

3. The red zone offense

The offense had the harder task Sunday. The Rams were healthy defensively, and that includes a full dose of Ramsey, Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd.

But they made it look really difficult inside the red zone.

On their final six drives, the Chiefs ran a play from inside the 15-yard line. They scored touchdowns on one of those drives.

It’s one game; these things happen; but it’s preventing the Chiefs from more emphatically putting games away.

Even after the defense provided them every opportunity.

4. The punt returner

Skyy Moore might develop into a valuable wide receiver, and I think that’s a real possibility because he performs well in a key metric for the position. He gets open. He beats his man at the line of scrimmage.

But when it comes to Skyy Moore the punt returner, I got nothing for you.

And the Chiefs should stop trying to make it a thing.

Moore muffed yet another punt Sunday, and like the previous two this season, it resulted in a turnover on his own half of the field. How does he still have this job?

In retrospect, it was too audacious a conversion from the get-go, with Moore, who came from a non-Power 5 school, already needing to make a pretty big leap to become an NFL receiver. Adding a new role to his plate — one he didn’t even own in college — was a big ask.

But we’re way past adding it to his plate.

This is forcing it on there.

Moore has proven he either lacks the ability, the confidence, the experience or most likely a combination of all three to be a punt returner. And the Chiefs are willfully ignoring all of the evidence — three muffed punts now, and he’s been lost on a couple of other returns.

5. The other AFC development

The most important Chiefs result outside of Arrowhead Stadium came in Jacksonville — minutes after the Chiefs and Rams kicked off:

Jaguars 28, Ravens 27.

As the Chiefs and Bills garner most of the “Who will get the No. 1 seed” attention, I’ve been eyeing Baltimore, who entering Sunday trailed the Chiefs by just one loss. It’s not that Baltimore is in the same class with the Chiefs and Bills — far from it, actually — but the Ravens had the easiest ride there. Just check out their remaining schedule: Denver, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The Ravens trail the Chiefs by two now, and while that aforementioned remaining schedule would prevent me from saying they’re completely out of the race for No. 1, I’d certainly pounce on the odds for the Chiefs and Bills first.

The Chiefs have the one-game lead, and their remaining slate looks a bit easier than it once did, but next week is the exception. The trip to Cincinnati represents a chance to fully stake their claim as the team to beat in the regular season race.