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Five biggest culprits of Chiefs’ nightmare season | Yardbarker
2. An untrustworthy receiving core
When Rashee Rice returned from his six-game suspension with a two-touchdown performance against the Las Vegas Raiders, there was some talk that this would be Mahomes’ best receiving core since the Tyreek Hill days. It’s safe to say that has not come to fruition.
Speedster Xavier Worthy has failed to take the next step in his second NFL season, deep threats Tyquan Thornton and Marquise Brown have been unable to remain consistent contributors and tight end Travis Kelce has lost nearly all of his run-after-catch ability in his age-36 season. Even Rice, who has a 17-game receiving pace of over 1,250 yards, has had a number of key drops, including a crucial one on fourth down against the Texans. The Chiefs have still been able to move the ball with ease against defenses like the Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, but great defenses like the Texans can dominate them in man coverage and force Mahomes into critical mistakes.
NFL Week 14 takeaways: What We Learned from Sunday’s 12 games | NFL.com
Next Gen Stats Insight for Texans-Chiefs (via NFL Pro): The Chiefs were without three starters on the offensive line before the game started and lost fill-in left tackle Wanya Morris on their first offensive play. The Chiefs’ offensive line allowed a 43.9% pressure rate from the Texans’ vaunted pass rush. Will Anderson had a team-high seven QB pressures. Left tackle Esa Pole made his NFL debut replacing Morris and allowed five QB pressures (12.2% pressure rate) and one sack.
NFL Research: Patrick Mahomes lost for the first time facing DeMeco Ryans. He was 3-0 against Ryans previously as a head coach with the Texans or defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers.
NFL Week 14 grades: Steelers earn ‘B’ for wild win over Ravens | CBS Sports
C- Chiefs
The Chiefs have watched Patrick Mahomes save the day so many times that it seemed destined to happen once again on Sunday night, but instead, the Texans defense landed a knockout punch on the Chiefs. Mahomes struggled against Houston, throwing for just 160 yards with three interceptions, but he also got no help from his teammates, who dropped a total of six passes. Two of those drops came from Travis Kelce, including a back-breaking drop in the fourth quarter that led to a game-sealing interception for Houston. Basically, the Chiefs didn’t make the plays that we’ve become accustomed to seeing them make in crunch time. Andy Reid also made an aggressive decision to go for it on fourth down from his own 31-yard line in the fourth quarter. After the Chiefs failed, the Texans took over and ended up scoring what proved to be the game-winning touchdown. The Chiefs look old this year: They look a step slow, they’ve been sloppy at times and the offensive firepower hasn’t been there since the calendar hit November....
