With latest loss, K.C. falls into tie for division lead
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Kansas City Chiefs were once an undefeated powerhouse, a squad many thought would challenge for supremacy in the AFC.
That seems like a long time ago.
Andy Reid’s squad is 6-6 now after losing a tough one, 38-31 to the New York Jets on Sunday. It was the Chiefs’ sixth loss in seven games, and did little to calm the nerves of fans who think their team is in the middle of an ugly collapse.
“You just continue to fight and try to win a game,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “We’ve been in some close ones a bunch here lately and have come out on the wrong side. Keep fighting and try to find a way. We know we have a couple of big division games coming up, so you have to assess this and get ready.” Or else. The Chiefs still control their future because they are tied for first in the AFC West with the Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers, each of whom won Sunday to improve to 6-6.
Kansas City is home against the Raiders and Chargers the next two weeks, when the Chiefs will know a lot more about themselves — and this season.
“You look back and correct the mistakes that we made and pick the urgency level up and go get ourselves better,” Reid said. “I’ve been around this thing long enough to know that things happen and it’s not going to get changed around unless everybody’s doing better, and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
First on the list might be better discipline; the Chiefs’ lack thereof with the game on the line cost them against the Jets.
Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 21-yard field goal to put the Jets (5-7) ahead 33-31 with 3:55 left. But Kansas City’s Bennie Logan was called for a personal foul for hitting long snapper Thomas Hennessy in the head on the play, prolonging the drive.
After two running plays, Josh McCown threw incomplete, but Steven Nelson was penalized for defensive holding. Three plays later, McCown kept the ball and shoved his way into the end zone .
McCown’s pass on the twopoint conversion pass fell incomplete, but Nelson was called for holding. An enraged Marcus Peters picked up the penalty flag and tossed it into the stands, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Elijah McGuire ran it in moments later to convert the two-point play and make it 38-31.
Smith has taken a lot of the heat for the Chiefs’ struggles, but the veteran was solid in this one.
Smith completed 19 of 33 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns — two each to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce — and even had a 70-yard run, the longest by an NFL quarterback this season. He also became the first QB since the 1970 merger to have a 70-yard run and a pass of 70 or more yards (79 to Hill) in the same game.