Chiefs lament same old mistakes against Raiders

KANSAS CITY, MO. >> Andy Reid stepped to the podium and once again took the blame for the ineptitude of the Kansas City Chiefs offense.

Patrick Mahomes followed him and once again insisted that all the Chiefs were lacking was consistency.

After another dismal offensive performance in a 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, the two followed the same script they had after four previous losses in their past eight games. And for good reason, because precisely the same problems that have dragged down the Chiefs all season showed up on Christmas Day.

They had a pair of turnovers, one of them a fumble returned for a touchdown and the other an interception taken back for a score, representing the only two touchdowns that the Raiders scored on the entire soggy afternoon.

The Chiefs are now minus-10 in turnover differential this season.

They had more penalties, including another offensive offside penalty on a wide receiver — this time Marquez Valdes-scantling, though it was declined because the Raiders sacked Mahomes anyway. It was that same rare call against Kadarius Toney a couple of weeks earlier that negated a go-ahead touchdown in the closing minutes of a loss to Buffalo.

There were mor e dropped passes, too, including one by ValdesScantling and another by sure-handed tight end Travis Kelce, even though their two most egregious offenders when it comes to drops — Toney and Skyy Moore — are now on injured reserve.

“Yeah, we’re just off a tick and again that’s my responsibility,” Reid said afterward, “to make sure I give them the right stuff to work with in the run game and pass game. That’s what’s got to take place.”

Or, as Mahomes put it: “All you can do is just move on, learn from your mistakes, get better and, I mean, I still believe that we can go do what we want to do. It’s just how can we correct it as quickly as possible.”

Time is running out. The Chiefs (9- 6) only have games left against the Bengals on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium and the following week against the Chargers in Los Angeles. They’ve already squandered their chance of securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and they must get a win or some help just to wrap up their eighth consecutive West Division championship.

“I’ve been on a team that won the Super Bowl as a wild- card team. You just have to get in,” Chiefs wide receiver Justin Watson said.

What’s working

The Chiefs defense held the Raiders to two field goals Monday. Hard to fault that side of the ball for only the fifth loss by Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium in which the opposing offense failed to score a touchdown.

What needs work

The Chiefs’ pass catchers struggled to get open, dropped the ball when they did, and were penalized plenty — Kelce had offensive pass interference called against him. The running game managed 85 yards. But the newest problem was the offensive line. The Chiefs invested heavily in free agency and draft capital to build a front to protect Mahomes, yet he was sacked four times and hit 10 on Monday.