DETROIT, MICHIGAN - SEPTEMBER 29: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates a play against the Detroit Lions during the second quarter in the game at Ford Field on September 29, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The Kansas City Chiefs played an ugly game vs. the Detroit Lions but don’t let convince you they don’t “deserve” to be 4-0.

The Chiefs played their worst game of the season Sunday. The offense was out of sync, the defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed, and Sammy Watkins, Darrel Williams and Mecole Hardman all lost fumbles. Hell, even NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes failed to throw a touchdown pass. It was as ugly a game as you could have watched outside of Buffalo, NY.

You can say a lot of things about this game.

“The Chiefs dodged a bullet.”

Sure.

“The Chiefs escaped with a win.”

Absolutely.

“The Chiefs didn’t deserve to win.”

Nah.

The Chiefs deserved to win. That’s why they won.

The Chiefs are really good. They are so good that they often make winning look easy. 3rd and 20? No problem. The Chiefs will get the first down. Down 10-0 to the Raiders on the road? Chill ya’ll, 28 second quarter points coming right up. Watching three straight games of the Chiefs curb-stomping opponents has surely spoiled us to some degree.

So it is time for a little reminder. Winning a game in the NFL is really, really, hard. Don’t believe me? Hop into a time machine, travel back to 2012, watch all 16 Chiefs games, and then report back to me.

Winning ugly doesn’t mean the Chiefs didn’t deserve to win. I would argue the Chiefs deserved to win this game more than they deserved to win any game this season.

This win was hard. The Chiefs has to scrape, fight and claw their way to this victory. Playing their third road game in four weeks, the Chiefs ran up against a confident Lions team with a great game plan. They went into the game without their left tackle, starting running back or their best receiver. Detroit came out and punched K.C. in the mouth. The Chiefs matched them blow for blow and, at the end of the game, they had a chance to win.

Down four with under two minutes to go, facing a 4th and 8 from his own 34, Mahomes pulled down the ball and scrambled for 15 yards. On the next play, Mahomes hit an absolutely gassed Travis Kelce who dug deep, made a man miss, and got out of bounds for a gain of 18 yards. Five plays later, Mahomes threw to Byron Pringle, who took a huge shot from a Detroit defender, kept his balance and used that momentum to get the Chiefs down to the three yard line. Two plays later, Darrel Williams punched it in for six.

Go ahead and tell Mahomes, Kelce, Pringle and Williams they didn’t earn that victory. Tell it to Bashaud Breeland who outsmarted everyone on the field and dug a Detroit fumble out of a pile at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a TD.

This was a terrific, character-building with for the Chiefs. They’re a great team but they learned today that they aren’t invincible. They need to execute on offense, protect the football, and play better defense or they will be in danger of losing because the guys on the other team are NFL players, too. You can damn sure bet the Chiefs will remember this Lions game the next time they face some adversity, and they’ll be better for it. When that day comes, if the Chiefs aren’t able to overcome their own mistakes and they lose, they will have deserved the L.

Just like they deserve the W today.