Arrowhead Pride
On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs dropped a 22-19 decision to the Denver Broncos, giving them a 5-5 record that substantially reduced their chance to win their 10th straight AFC West title.
After reflecting on this bitter loss, three things come to mind.
Even when Alex Smith was Kansas City’s quarterback, head coach Andy Reid would often take a deep shot in the first few plays of a game. It rarely worked, but the idea was to get the defense committed to defending against it.
In Sunday’s game, Kansas City called three straight deep passes on its opening drive. All three fell incomplete, forcing the team to punt after just four plays.
That was well beyond putting a play in the opening script to keep the defense honest.
In Sunday’s game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes attempted 10 passes described as “deep” in the matchup’s official record. Only one of them was completed: a 61-yard third-quarter strike to wide receiver Tyquan Thornton that set up Kansas City’s first touchdown. Another was intercepted, ending a drive that would have put at least three points on the board — and led to Denver’s first touchdown. Two more drew pass interference penalties that gained a total of 87 yards.
Mahomes’ passer rating on these throws was a horrifying 12.9. If they could be removed from his 29 completions on 45 attempts for 276 yards, one touchdown and one interception — which gave him an ugly rating of 79.5 — he would have ended up with an adequate 101.8 rating. And Kansas City probably would have left Denver with a victory.
Ever since general manager Brett Veach traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in 2022, hundreds of thousands of words have been written about whether (or how) the team could replace his production. To date, it hasn’t happened — but here’s what has happened: Kansas City appeared in three straight Super Bowls, winning two of them and becoming the only team in history to return after back-to-back wins.
It now seems that the Chiefs cannot use their top wide receivers Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown to return to the aerial assault they had with Hill, wide receiver Sammy Watkins and tight end Travis Kelce. As our Nate Christensen once again pointed out on Tuesday, none of them are built for the job.
It’s incredibly frustrating that Kansas City has used its resources on receivers with redundant skill sets. None of them can win a contested catch or beat physical coverage. They all require role catering (or scheme) to create chances for them; none of them can do it themselves.
So why are the Chiefs even trying? Why don’t they simply return to the approach that gave Mahomes his second MVP award, as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to lead the league in passing yards and win the Lombardi Trophy — without Hill — in 2022? Move the...
