What’s wrong with Chiefs’ offense? Everything
When it comes to the Chiefs’ offense, the question isn’t, “What’s wrong?” It’s, “How much time have you got?”
The Chiefs may be 7-3 entering Sunday’s game against the Raiders, just a half-game behind the Ravens and Dolphins for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. But their offense is a mess, as evidenced by the drops, penalties, and turnovers in a 21-17 loss to the Eagles last Monday night.
“It starts with me,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said, falling on his sword for his teammates. “Offensively, I’m just not where I want to be at this point in the season.”
The Chiefs enter Sunday’s game ranked No. 14 in points per game (22.5) and No. 8 in total yards, their first time outside of the top six in either category since 2016, when Alex Smith was the quarterback.
Their problems are manifold, and they have little to do with Mahomes and mostly to do with the people around him.
First is “the penalty part,” as coach
Andy Reid put it. The Chiefs had the sixth-most penalty flags (85) entering Week 12, and were second worst in net penalties (minus-18).
The offensive line has been the biggest culprit, tied for the NFL lead in holding penalties (14 in 10 games). Right guard Trey Smith is tied for the league lead with five, right tackle
Jawaan Taylor is tied for fourth with four, and left tackle Donovan Smith is tied for 10th with three.
Next come the drops, which have been a problem all season. The Chiefs had several in Monday’s loss, including one by Marquez Valdes-Scantling late in the fourth quarter that should have won the game. Mahomes has had 22 passes dropped this year, or 5.8 percent, both of which lead the NFL. Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Justin Watson each have four drops, tied for fifth most in the league.
The next problem is the turnovers. The Chiefs have 19 giveaways, tied for fifth most in the league. Most alarmingly, they have an NFL-high four turnovers inside the red zone, including two last week. Mahomes is throwing interceptions at the highest rate of his career (2.4 percent) and is on pace to break his career high in interceptions (13) by two.
Up next: An inability to hit deep passes. Mahomes last year led the NFL by a wide margin with 73 completions of 20-plus yards, or 16 more than the next quarterback. This year, Mahomes ranks just 16th in such completions, on pace for 49, which would be a career low.
Mahomes is averaging just 6.9 yards per pass attempt, by far the lowest of his career and well below his career average of 8.0. He’s also throwing touchdown passes at the lowest clip of his career (5 percent).
“I’ve preached all year [that] teams are going to try to make us drive the entire field the entire game,” Mahomes said. “We have to prove that. If not, they’re going to make us do that, and it’s not like they’re changing much.”
The Chiefs’ problems are interconnected, of course, and the next one relates to several others — an inability to get Kelce the ball. In his last three games, Kelce has just 16 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown, and none of the Chiefs’ receivers are establishing themselves as consistent No. 2 options.
“I mean, they’re putting two [or] three guys on him,” Mahomes said of Kelce. “If we hit some of these deep passes that we’re missing, it’s going to take teams out of those double teams and triple teams.”
The accumulation of issues has resulted in a troubling trend for the
Chiefs — “this second-half thing,” as Reid said.
The Chiefs have no problem putting up points in the first half of games — 17.2 per game, second best in the NFL. They have the best second-quarter scoring differential in the league (plus-69), enabling them to race to halftime leads.
But the Chiefs have been surprisingly terrible after halftime. They have scored just 53 points in the second half, fewest in the NFL (5.3 per game). They have been shut out in the second half in three straight games, losses to the Broncos and Eagles and a win over the Dolphins. Mahomes is 22nd in secondhalf passer rating (81.8), and 32nd in yards per attempt (5.6).
Specifically, the Chiefs’ issues are in the fourth quarter. Their 19 points are the fewest in the NFL, and they are 31st in point differential (minus-33).
“As much as everybody expects us to do it, we expect more of ourselves,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes took accountability Monday night for the team’s woes, but he isn’t the problem. The Chiefs are discovering that replacing Tyreek Hill isn’t so easy, as Watson, Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore, and Mecole Hardman aren’t stepping up with consistent production. Rice, a rookie second-round pick, has shown promise with 420 yards and four touchdowns, but he is only playing 47 percent of snaps as he adapts to the NFL.
Reid sees the Chiefs’ problems as fixable.
“All these things have been kind of self-inflicted,” he said. “We just take care of our business there and we’ll be OK.”
The Chiefs will be dangerous as long as they have Mahomes, Kelce, and Reid. But it’s Super Bowl or bust in Kansas City, and the offense has not been up to the task.