The morning after a Chiefs Week 3 loss
Failure is what you make of it. Sometimes it can even be a pathway to success.
Nobody knows that sentiment more than Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid, who lost over 170 NFL games before winning his first Super Bowl title. Even though the 2021 NFL season hasn’t started the way that the Chiefs intended, they’re hoping to learn from their losses and get better.
In today’s morning after column, we remind Chiefs fans that there’s still a lot of time for this team to get back on the right track and make something out of this season. We also talk turnovers and a unit that has consistently impressed this season.
Cover story: The Chiefs' season isn't lost. . . yet
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
After the Week 3 loss to the Chargers, it feels a little bit like the sky is falling. The Chiefs have a 1-2 record after back-to-back losses and are ranked right at the bottom of the AFC West. They're under .500 for the first time since the Obama administration. It's an unfamiliar feeling after all of the success and excitement from the past several seasons. "Yeah, this is unusual for us," Chiefs assistant head coach Dave Toub told reporters after the game. "To be honest, it’s a little bit of a crossroads for us." The last time Kansas City had such a start was the 2015 NFL season. After opening up with a Week 1 victory against the Houston Texans, the Chiefs dropped five consecutive games before their next win in Week 7. That win set off a chain reaction, with the team rattling off 10 wins en route to a playoff berth. The moral of the story? The Chiefs' season wasn't decided by their 1-6 record to start the season. Just as this season won't be decided by the outcome of these first three games. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes says moving forward it's all about how he and his teammates respond to the early-season adversity. “Yeah obviously, everybody is, I’m not going to say down, but is not happy with how we played," Mahomes told reporters after the game. "When you take a loss to a division opponent at home, it’s not usually a good thing. We haven’t done a lot of that in my time here. So, it’s just how you respond." How do the Chiefs respond to these two losses? It starts by playing their best football, which they admittedly haven't done. Everyone on the team knows they're capable of so much more and the parity in the league allows very little room for error. Despite the recurrent struggles that showed up in Week 3, Mahomes felt his team showed signs of improvement against the Chargers. "I think we’re getting better," Mahomes said. "If you watched us, I think the offense played well, other than the turnovers. I thought the defense stepped up and really kept us in the game for a long time there. I think we’re getting better as a unit. This game, it’s a tricky deal. If you don’t play your best football every single week, you’re going to lose. Every team has NFL players, every team is good. I think we’re getting better and we’ll find ourselves over time. With the guys we have in the locker room, I’m sure we’ll find ways to win.” Toub echoed Mahomes' faith in the locker room, explaining that it's all going to start with how the team performs on the practice field this week. "We’ve got great leadership and our guys are going to battle back," Toub said. "Our guys are going to battle back strong, and we’re going to have a great week of practice and clean it up. We have to clean up the game, clean up the turnovers, execute on the offensive side of the ball, create turnovers and stops on defense, play solid special teams and we’ll be back on track." The Chiefs obviously feel a collective sense of urgency, but they also recognize that the NFL season isn't a sprint. The regular season is a 17-game marathon and they've still got 14 games where they can go out and prove that they're better than they've been through the first three games. "We have a long season ahead of us," Mahomes said. "It looks real dim right now, but if you can find a way to get better from this and find a way to win these games at the end of the games, we’ll be where we want to at the end of the season.”
What we want to see less of: Turnovers on offense
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs have six turnovers on the offensive side of the ball in the last two games — both losses. Four of those turnovers came against the Chargers yesterday and contributed greatly to the loss. "I mean you’re not going to win games with four turnovers in this league," Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes told reporters after the game. The general consensus among Chiefs players is that they beat themselves by turning the ball over. "We kind of beat ourselves, beat ourselves up," Edwards-Helaire told reporters. "As far as everything I feel and everything I’ve seen, from an offensive standpoint, turnovers is what killed us.” What was different between the Chiefs' scoring drives and those that ended in a turnover? Not much. Really the only thing that was different was the result. “We just held on to the ball and I didn’t throw an interception," Mahomes said. "I mean we didn’t change the game plan at all. All we did was hold on to it. We were moving the ball the first four, so we just held on to the football and we got points.” This felt like it was an execution issue at its core. Between the fumbles and interceptions, the Chiefs need to put themselves in a better position to hang onto the football and finish drives with points. That'll come from coaching, from individual player focus and it'll come from the offensive scheme.
What we want to see more of: All four of the Chiefs' tight ends
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Chiefs are one of the few teams in the league to carry four tight ends on the 53-man roster. They're also one of the only teams to keep all four tight ends active on game day. Sunday was unique because all four tight ends caught a pass in a single game for the first time. It shouldn't be the last time this happens either. Travis Kelce is in a class of his own, but each of Jody Fortson, Blake Bell and Noah Gray can provide matchup advantages in their own regard. Look at Jody Fortson, for instance. He looked like exactly the red zone threat the Chiefs have been lacking on his two-yard touchdown reception. When teams pay a lot of attention to Kelce on key downs, the Chiefs should try to have at least one other tight end in the game. It could be the key to finding a tertiary weapon to consistently complement Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
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