Who is holding Chiefs WRs accountable for drops? Matt Nagy says that starts with him

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy says the responsibility starts with him when it comes to the Kansas City’s receivers fixing their issues with drops.

According to an ESPN article written by Bill Barnwell this week, the Chiefs’ receiver position has dropped 8% of its passes this season, the worst mark of any NFL team in the last decade by more than a percentage point.

“Number one, it starts with me, making sure that I, as an offensive coordinator, make sure that these players know that they’re accountable,” Nagy told reporters Thursday. “Whether that’s in practice getting more catches. Whether it’s a mindset. It starts with me. So I’ve got to make sure that we’re doing that, we as coaches — and that’s me coaching the coaches as well — and us doing it together.”

This problem has especially shown itself in the last four games. Marquez Valdes-Scantling failed to hold onto a potential game-winning touchdown at home against Philadelphia, while Kadarius Toney also had a notable drop in KC’s loss to Buffalo on Sunday.

That same theme was a major storyline in the season opener too, as Toney couldn’t hold onto three Patrick Mahomes passes when the Chiefs fell to the Detroit Lions.

“We started out at the beginning of the year, we talked about it, and it naturally goes away. But it’s still happening,” Nagy said of the drops. “And so we’ve got to make sure that we talk about it and we do everything we can to fix it. And so I can’t tell you anything other than we need to just keep making sure that we emphasize it. And then when they get an opportunity to catch the ball, they do it.”

Nagy was asked Thursday what that accountability looked like with Chiefs players as it related to correcting these mistakes. He said coaches and players had discussions in the team facility, with the tenor of those conversations depending on the individual.

“Every player is different on how they handle being coached. And so there’s a little bit of that, too, with how you handle certain guys,” Nagy said. “Some can handle tough criticism; others can’t. So there’s a feel to it. But in the end, we’ve got to make sure that the product out there is scoring touchdowns and winning football games.”

One person who hasn’t disparaged the receivers has been Mahomes. In interview settings, he’s often spoken about continuing to have faith in his wideouts while also saying he needed to improve his own play.

Nagy said he appreciates Mahomes’ leadership style, saying that the QB is willing to call guys out, even if that doesn’t happen in public.

“There’s so much more that goes on behind the scenes that you don’t get to see that we do get to see,” Nagy said. “And I think, respectfully, that’s probably one of Pat’s strengths is he’s so good at being able to lead without having to show a million different ways of how he does it for three hours on game day.”

Nagy also said Mahomes has a great feel for knowing how to handle the different personality types in his huddle.

“There’s no better leader than Patrick Mahomes,” Nagy said. “And I mean that. I really mean that.”

Overall, Nagy said one of his biggest disappointments from Sunday’s 20-17 home loss to Buffalo was how the offense managed adversity. The Chiefs did not perform their best, Nagy said, after Toney’s offsides call late in the fourth quarter on a potential go-ahead drive.

“We can get caught up in being offsides and the play that was taken back. But let’s not get caught up on second and 15, third and 15 and fourth and 15,” Nagy said. “We have a chance with 1:12, two timeouts, down three, we’re going at worst tie the game. We need to go down there and win the game. And we didn’t do that.”

Replays show the Chiefs had opportunities to extend the drive after the disputed call went against them. On the next play, for example, receiver Justin Watson broke open down the field, but Buffalo’s pass rush — along with a likely-too-deep drop from Mahomes — resulted in a throwaway instead of a completion.

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“It’s about being mentally tough,” Watson said of the final three plays following the offsides call. “It’s not going to be the last time we’re put in a tough position where a call doesn’t go our way or a play doesn’t go our way. We had a couple more chances after that. Definitely a mental toughness test there about getting on to the next play.”

Nagy’s message this week with the whole offense has been to control what can be controlled. The Chiefs have had many games where they’ve started fast offensively, then cooled off. The last three games have been the opposite: They’ve labored early and had to come from behind late.

The offense, he says, needs to do the work to finalize victories, whether those moments come in the first quarter or the fourth.

“That’s the thing that we’ve got to take from this is if we want to be a championship, Super Bowl-level team, that’s got to be a mindset of finishing,” Nagy said. “And it’s not a criticism; it’s just where we’re at.”