The Kansas City Chiefs are in a rut, but head coach Andy Reid isn’t panicking yet.
“We’re not quite as negative as the outside world is,” Reid said. “We know what we need to clean up, and we need to do it. But the guys, they get it. I mean, some of these guys [have] been through some pretty good seasons and this isn’t like this one’s lost. So [we’ve] just got to clean up a few of these things, and the urgency level—obviously we need to make sure we take care of that now.”
The glaring issue in Sunday’s loss was a series of crippling penalties. On the Chiefs’ first punt of the afternoon, their Kevin Knowles shoved blocker Reese Taylor in the back, knocking him to the ground; the illegal block penalty added 10 yards to a 68-yard return by Marvin Mims, which set up a Broncos field goal to take a 6–0 lead.
On the next possession, guard Kingsley Suamataia was called for an illegal use of hands to the face after he ripped the helmet off Denver defensive lineman Malcolm Roach. With the offense in the red zone, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was called twice for holding, but the second penalty was declined. After kicking a field goal, the Chiefs gave up some more free yards on special teams with a penalty for a kick outside the landing zone.
Offensive tackles Jawaan Taylor and Josh Simmons were particularly rough. Taylor was called for an illegal formation and holding, while Simmons was flagged for two holdings and a false start.
Reid attributed Simmons’ struggles to absence; he has missed the past four weeks dealing with a personal matter.
“Some of it was just where he was physically, some of it was where are you mentally, and can you handle where we’re at here four weeks later,” Reid said. “I thought he handled that well as he went through the week. We got in the game, he handled it well.”
He commended Simmons for helping contain the Broncos’ edge rush tandem of Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper.
Outside of penalties, the Chiefs had issues in all three phases of the game. On offense, quarterback Patrick Mahomes struggled to connect with his receivers on deep balls and threw an interception in the red zone. On special teams, the Broncos blocked an extra point after the Chiefs’ second touchdown that kept the margin to just 3 points in the 4th quarter. On defense, the secondary left gaping holes in coverage that the Broncos offense exploited time and again, including on the last drive, when wide receiver Troy Franklin was open in between two defenders for a long gain that set up the game-winning field goal.
Reid said that he takes responsibility first and foremost for cleaning up the errors but said the players must also take some responsibility.
“Why are we having the penalties?” he said. “Let’s fix that. And don’t point to the officials. Don’t point here or there. Take responsibility for it. If it’s fundamentals, if you’re on the back end and you need to plant and drive, why didn’t we do [that?] Our offensive line, you didn’t step with the right foot, all those things you control and you’ve got to take care of those. Small things, but they all add up.”
At 5–5 on the season, the Chiefs—who have won the AFC West for each of the past 9 seasons—are now in third place in the division. They are on the bubble for a playoff spot, but have lost to all three current Wild Card holders; the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Los Angeles Chargers.
Their remaining schedule won’t do them any favors, either. Next week, they face off against the 8–2 Indianapolis Colts; followed by the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, then a home rematch with the Chargers and the Broncos two weeks later.
But Reid told his players that righting the ship comes one week at a time.
“What can you do? You can go and get yourself ready to play Indianapolis,” he said. “That’s what you can do. Everything else is involved with a crystal ball, but you can take care of today and tomorrow and the following day. Let’s start there.”
