Every Kansas City fan knew it was bound to happen eventually, and Sunday it happened. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about the Chief’s annual clunker of a game. Two years ago the clunker was a 27-3 loss to the Titans in Tennessee. Last year, it was a 20-17 loss to the Colts in Indianapolis. A Colts team that would go on to win 4 games, fire their head coach, and hire former player Jeff Saturday as interim head coach. This year it was a 24-9 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (15) – Isaiah J. Downing/ USA Today sports
Each year following their bad loss, we see the same questions arise. Are the Chiefs still the team to beat? Does Mahomes need more help at receiver? Has the league finally figured out how to stop Kansas City? Who should the Chiefs target before the trade deadline? At the time these questions seem fair since these losses have always come in the first half of the season.
But then we see Kansas City hit their stride. We see Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes piece it together, and before we know it, we’re watching the Chiefs host another AFC Championship game. As lousy as Sunday’s loss was, the Chiefs are not far from turning the corner. Yes, there are plenty of issues for them to clean up, but if history has taught us one thing, it’s to never count out Mahomes and Reid.
In this article, I will look at a couple things the Chiefs need to clean up if they want to host their sixth straight AFC Championship game.
Kansas City continues to struggle on third and short
We are now at the point where it feels the Chiefs are better at third and long than third and short. The third and short play calling this season has been terrible. Time and time again Kansas City calls in one of their gimmick plays and yesterday was no different. On their second drive, Kansas City moved the ball down to Denver’s 3-yard line. On 3rd and two, the Chiefs ran a fake jet and Mahomes shoveled the ball to Rashee Rice going up the middle. The play lost a yard and the Chiefs settled for three.
Two drives later, Kansas City was in a similar spot. Trailing 14-3 and facing a 3rd and 2 at Denver’s 13, the Chiefs were once again unable to covert. This time it was a swing pass to Jerick McKinnon starting 7-yards behind the line of scrimmage. This time they lost 3-yards and once again settled for three.
Chiefs HC Andy Reid and OC Matt Nagy – David Eulitt/ Getty Images
The frustrating part about these two plays is they didn’t let Mahomes throw it past the line of scrimmage. They have the best QB in the league but chose to neutralize his ability. Andy Reid needs to put the ball in Mahomes hands and let him make a play. Third and short has been an emphasis all year and each week we hear that they will correct it. Unfortunately, it has not happened yet, but as I said earlier, I would bet on Mahomes and Reid figuring it out sooner rather than later.
Drops and Turnovers
Another issue that has plagued the Chiefs all year has been drops. The Chiefs wide receivers can not shake this issue and lead the league with 15. The good news for Kansas City is that it’s not a separation issue. For the most part, Chiefs receivers are getting open, they’re just not finishing the plays. Sunday, both Rashee Rice and Skky Moore had bad drops with Skky’s drop taking a touchdown off the board.
Turnovers have also hurt the Chiefs this year. Sunday’s game saw the Chiefs turn the ball over 5 times. The whole team is to blame for the turnovers, including Mahomes who is tied for the lead in interceptions with 8. As a team, the Chiefs have turned it over 16 times. Only the Cleveland Browns have turned it over more with 17. Cleaning up the turnovers will lead to more points, as KC has not struggled to move the ball this year, they’ve just struggled to finish drives.
Red zone
The final problem that KC needs to solve is the red zone. Currently the Chiefs are 18th in turning red zone trips into touchdowns. This is shockingly low, as last year they were 2nd. Looking more closely at their two games against Denver this season, the Chiefs were 1-8 in the red zone. The red zone is what separates the good teams from the great teams. As has been said by every team, there is a big difference between 7 points and 3 points in the NFL. Like the third and short situations, I expect the Chiefs to figure out the red zone and start coming away with touchdowns.
Looking ahead
If I had to bet, come the end of the season this Denver loss will be remembered like the Colts game last year. It’s a wake-up call for Kansas City but I still believe all their problems are solvable. The Chiefs still sit in first place in the entire AFC and will now travel to Frankfurt, Germany for a game against the high-powered Dolphins. With the number one overall seed on the line, I would expect a much different Chiefs team to show up early Sunday morning.
