Arrowhead Pride
We’re all losers after that game. A “Murphy’s law” season continues for your Kansas City Chiefs with a 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans in Week 14, and it’s the same stuff going wrong as always.
My submission in this week’s prediction post said it all (other than the correct outcome):
Sure… officiating has been terrible, but the defense couldn’t get off the field on third down, either. Still, what seems to really derail these games is when Kansas City’s playmakers can’t quite bring in a pass — or a big play is wiped out by a penalty. For the Chiefs to save their season, they’ll need tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Rashee Rice to make plays. While I expect Mahomes to deliver under pressure, I worry that this is a season where he won’t get enough help to make a run.
Injuries and stale offense have piled on to the recurring mix of penalties and drops we’ve come to loathe. At least the Chiefs’ defense came to play, until they were put in a bad spot one too many times. To no surprise, there weren’t many members of the offense in the “Winners” column this week.
Defensive lineman Chris Jones: This was a tremendous effort from Jones. He was relentless, disruptive and explosive off the line of scrimmage. Jones finished with 4 quarterback hits (including a sack), a batted pass, and a tackle-for-loss. He heard the criticism from last week and responded like a man possessed.
Defensive end George Karlaftis: With Jones playing well, Karlaftis was also better — and that’s no coincidence. This defense works when each player has a great pass-rushing effort, and doesn’t when either one of them is quiet. Furious George finished with five total tackles (one for loss), a sack and another quarterback hit.
Linebacker Nick Bolton: His limitations are still there, but Bolton continues to execute his job for this defense. Against the Texans, he had 12 tackles (two for loss) and one quarterback hit. He was everywhere, as usual, and they almost had one of their best defensive efforts of the season as a result.
Cornerback Nohl Williams: The defensive back rotation continues to be insane. Rookie cornerback Nohl Williams has been fantastic, but was only on the field this week due to the injury to star cornerback Trent McDuffie. Williams had two passes defended and put up a good fight in coverage. Can we please see him on the field for every defensive snap moving forward?
Left tackle Esa Pole: The undrafted rookie made his NFL debut after left tackle Wanya Morris was injured early on and earned praise: “He wasn’t perfect, but he was good enough,” said head coach Andy Reid in post-game.
Head Coach Andy Reid: I’m still not on the bandwagon to fire Reid, but I do think that Big Red has allowed this offense to get stale. The unit has the same problems it has had for seasons: too many...
