Lisa Foxx
There is a term we have all heard: winning ugly. All NFL teams have experienced it. The term means it doesn’t matter how you look doing it, the most important thing is getting the win. There are also ugly losses. No team wants to lose ugly, but the Chiefs loss to the Broncos 9 days ago that Sunday at Empower Field, was about as ugly as it gets… and still, there was no win.
The Kansas City Chiefs performance last Sunday afternoon v Denver was something not seen before from an Andy Reid-coached/Patrick Mahomes-led team. The Chiefs offense did not score a touchdown in the 24-9 loss, which snapped a 16-game win streak for the Chiefs over the Broncos. Plus, this is the first time Denver has defeated Kansas City since 2015.
Turnovers were a major factor in the loss. The Chiefs committed five of them:
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- 2 Mahomes interceptions
- 1 Mahomes fumble
- 1 fumble by Marquez Valdez-Scantling
- 1 muffed punt by Mecole Hardman
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The Chiefs turnovers gave the Broncos great field position throughout the game. Denver scored 17 points off of Chiefs turnovers, and they had great field position on the majority of their scoring drives due to KC’s turnovers.
Some Chiefs fans are referencing last year’s game against the Colts to compare to this Chiefs-Broncos game. There are many similarities, as that, too, was a Murphy’s Law type of game.
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• Dropped passes in the End Zone
• Muffed punts giving the opposition great starting field position
• Turnovers
• Bad penalties
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Who can forget the unsportsmanlike conduct flag on star defensive tackle Chris Jones against the Colts? That penalty gave the ball back to the Colts after a four-and-out at the end of the fourth quarter which, essentially, sealed the win for the Colts.
This game vs the Broncos took me back to the 2021 Chiefs vs. Chargers game in Kansas City. In that game the Chiefs played well and moved the ball up and down the field. The problem — again — was the turnovers. That was the year following the Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Mahomes had offseason surgery on his turf toe, unbeknownst to many. That was also the season Kansas City started the year with 7 interceptions due drops or balls bouncing off of receivers’ hands and into the hands of the opposing teams’ players. The inability for Mahomes to work with his receivers during the offseason was evident to begin that season.
Even still, that offense looked like it was clicking on all cylinders, sans the tipped/dropped passes. Same with the Colts game. Even though that game had mistake after mistake, the offense still looked cohesive. I cannot say the same about the game against the Broncos. Credit to the Denver defense, as they had a great game plan for the Chiefs. Nevertheless, in this game the Chiefs offense looked confused, disjointed and downright chaotic, at times, and Chiefs Kingdom is blaming the wide receiver room.
Kansas City’s WR room was turned upside down this past off season, with only veterans Marquez Valdez-Scantling, Justin Watson and rookie Skyy Moore returning (after a full season with K.C.). The rest of the WR room mainly consists of a young rookies and a few 2nd year players.
Kadarius Toney is a 3rd year player, but he missed most of his first season with the New York Giants due to an injury, but did see snaps last year in Kansas City when he came over in a mid-season trade. Although named WR#1 during this past offseason by General Manager Brett Veach, Toney hasn’t been used as a traditional WR#1 by the Chiefs and his production and contribution to the offense has been minimal this season (Toney had but one target and one catch vs the Dolphins). Second year WR Skyy Moore’s contribution has also been limited and some Chiefs fans are ready to send him to the bench… permanently! That sentiment may have something to do with a perfectly thrown ball by Mahomes to the End Zone that was dropped by Moore (seen below, 0:09) which would have put six points on the board for the Chiefs (similar to a pass Moore dropped in a losing effort to the Detroit Lions).
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To be fair, Mahomes was playing the Denver game with the flu and he wasn’t at his best last Sunday. That is certainly no excuse, but it may have been a contributing factor to the loss. That loss may be what the Chiefs needed to snap themselves back into championship form against the Dolphins.
The Chiefs were at 6-2 on the season (after the Broncos loss) but still atop the AFC Conference standings. The Chiefs were in Frankfurt, Germany, to face off against former Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill and his new team the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and although the Dolphins have an explosive offense with one of the fastest WR duos in the league with Hill and Jaylen Waddle, the Chiefs defense took care of business. It was a battle as the Chiefs top 7 Defense stopped Miami’s speedy receivers and rode a 21-to-nothing halftime lead all the way to the end of the game.
Besides records and post-season seeding, there was also bragging rights at stake (0:14).
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A year and a half ago, Tyreek Hill sought a trade to Miami from Kansas City after asking for a salary Veach wasn’t willing to pay. Then, Hill talked a lot about how excited he is to play his former team. He was on pace to hit a record 2,155 yard receiving this season before the game began… and he still is (2,035) after gaining only 62 yards receiving in this game (far below his previous 127 yards per game average). He has also said less than flattering things about the Chiefs organization which has burned bridges with some fans in Chiefs Kingdom and it added fuel to the fire.
The Chiefs versus the Dolphins was one of the most anticipated games of the weekend and, dare I say the entire season. The Dolphins high-powered offense resembles how the Chiefs offense used to look (when Hill was on the team). However, now K.C. is more defense-focused, despite having the league’s best quarterback on their team. After the Dolphins game the Chiefs now have a top 5 defense. It’s time for the offense to start performing on the level of the defense. If that happens, there is no stopping the Chiefs.
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Lisa Foxx — ArrowheadOne
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