Was Washington win fool’s gold or reset for KC Chiefs? We’ll find out Sunday vs. Titans

Unsightly as it was at times, the Chiefs’ 31-13 victory at Washington on Sunday was jammed with indelible moments — including a lapse by quarterback Patrick Mahomes on a reckless interception that upon review in the film room left everyone laughing … including himself.

It wouldn’t have been quite as amusing, of course, if that play hadn’t become an apparent catalyst to Mahomes’ brilliant second half, which featured his against-the grain pitch to Travis Kelce and the penalty-negated preposterous throw to Tyreek Hill that made no scientific sense.

Then there was that insane interception by defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton that ended up among the SportsCenter Top 10 plays on ESPN. Arguably of the most impact, though, were the tirades of Tyrann Mathieu at the end of the first half, when he was blistering about everyone in earshot after Washington converted a third and 16 to set up a go-ahead touchdown and a 17-13 halftime lead.

“You just have to have a sense of urgency,” he said after the game. “I feel like that was a play that the whole defense took off.”

And triggered his inner Honey Badger.

And why not from a man who has emerged as the defensive soul and heart of this team? He has the abiding respect across the locker room and among coaches to take such measures and not be perceived as divisive.

“I mean, (his teammates) love it when I go crazy,” he said, with a laugh.

Certainly, the immediate results suggested that. And the idea was happily affirmed by Mahomes, who calls Mathieu one of the best leaders he’s ever been around:

“I love that,” Mahomes said. “It really brings the best out of everybody to see that passion. … He’s not mad because he’s blaming someone; he’s mad because he wants everyone to be great.”

Add it all up, and the images connect why coach Andy Reid at halftime observed a locker room that radiated an “enough is enough” attitude and made good on it by dominating the second half 21-0.

But … now what?

In a perfect world for the Chiefs and their fans, all of these things would be not only enduring snippets of a game turned around but also of a more substantial reset of a thus far perplexing and at times distressing season. Because back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, with the nucleus intact, gave ample reason to anticipate more glory days ahead even with a rebuilt offensive line.

In that dream place, Mathieu’s eruption would make for that nearly tangible symbolic dividing line that we all like to look for and figure is always out there in such mystical forms as the perfect motivational talk or mesmerizing halftime speech or the clubhouse meeting or even in eureka strategizing moments or personnel shifts.

After all, who doesn’t want their phenomena to be explainable?

And, with that, to have a more firm sense of faith in where this is all going?

Trouble is, much as we like the idea of such clear and grandiose pivot points, they’re only really discernible in hindsight.

Because the ebb and flow of any season is always tugging in each direction. And the journey really is about each and every step along the way and navigating all the trapdoors awaiting.

If there is a prevailing arc or trajectory or narrative to the season, well, it will only be perceptible looking back from the finish line.

Or as Reid put it Wednesday, “You can’t talk about it anymore. You’ve got to go do.”

Which brings us back to right here, right now, entering yet another game that will come with a big swig of truth serum for the Chiefs, who are 3-3 and play the bruising Tennessee Titans (4-2) on Sunday in Nashville.

The Titans, of course, on Monday bristled out a 34-31 win against Buffalo, which clobbered the Chiefs 38-20 on Oct. 10. Oh, and dynamic and relentless Tennessee running back Derrick Henry looms as pure Kryptonite for a defense that is, shall we say, susceptible to the run.

Meanwhile, the natural subplot of the week is how this ambivalent time might parallel 2019, when the Titans beat the Chiefs 35-32 to leave them reeling at 6-4. From that improbable crossroads, you’ll recall, the Chiefs went on a nine-game rampage (including beating Tennessee 35-24 in the AFC Championship Game) to win the Super Bowl.

But this is a tale all its own for this unique team, and you can still see in it about whatever you want to believe until proven otherwise.

Certainly, it remains confounding to assess what’s ahead because of so much contradictory data, including the very nature of having an offense that has been largely unstoppable by many metrics (even having committed an NFL-worst 14 turnovers) entwined with a defense that had given up the most points in the league until last Sunday.

If they can clean up the turnovers, a trait of Reid’s previous Chiefs teams, the offense has the capacity to offset the defense. Especially if the defense just can restore a basic level of competence with some momentum from here.

While some might be inclined to minimize the lopsided margin last week because of the opponent and the anxiety-inducing first half, it’s certainly easy to take stock in some of the developments … including how the Chiefs were upgraded by safety Juan Thornhill finally replacing Daniel Sorensen in the lineup.

Washington was held to a season-low in scoring, and the Chiefs held an opponent scoreless in a half for the first time in 17 games since keeping the woeful Jets (2-14) off the scoreboard in the second half of their 35-9 win last year.

Moreover, if you want to stretch the point, the defense has given up a total of 20 points in its last three halves of play — including just seven against Buffalo (the Bills scored their other second-half touchdown on a pick-6 off a Mahomes pass that went off Hill’s hands).

Still, this obviously is a more thorny challenge, and a more telling one, while we’re still weeks from a truer notion of how this will all play out for the Chiefs.

But we’ll know by Sunday evening just how much the highlights of last week helped them reset toward being the team we expected them to be … or whether that was fool’s gold and those will be relegated to random images signifying nothing in particular.