Andy Reid Takes Responsibility for Chiefs’ Loss to the Lions

Kansas City's head coach explains some of what went wrong on the NFL's opening night for 2023.

The Kansas City Chiefs dropping their Thursday night opener against the Detroit Lions wasn't an utterly massive shock. Detroit, after all, was a borderline playoff opponent last season and one that was bound to bring the energy to start the 2023 campaign. It was how Kansas City lost the game that caught so many folks off guard.

After getting off to a bit of a slow start but then pulling it back together, the Chiefs went into the halftime locker room with a 14-7 lead and plenty of momentum knowing that they'd get the football back for the start of the second half. Over the next 30 minutes of game time, however, things went south as head coach Andy Reid's offense struggled and quarterback Patrick Mahomes failed to consistently connect with his receivers. Jared Goff and the Lions fought their way back into the game and escaped with a narrow road win, sending the crowd home unhappy.

Following the loss, Reid spoke to the media about what he felt went right and wrong on Thursday night. Tipping his cap to Detroit to start off, the 65-year-old head coach later shouldered the bulk of the blame for the team's somewhat embarrassing performance. 

"Listen, the Lions did a heck of a job," Reid said. "They capitalized on a couple of things, and we've got to fix those. I liked some of the efforts, though. I liked what I saw on the defensive side for the most part. There were some good things on offense, we've just got to be more consistent. I'll take that. I'll take this, the offensive part."

According to ESPN, Kansas City's four drops were tied for the second-most in one game since Mahomes took over as the club's starting quarterback. Additionally, per the tweet, the superstar field general completed just two of his 12 pass attempts thrown to wide receivers in the final two frames of the game. That four-drop estimate may be a conservative one, too, as there were several iffy passes that were still catchable for various receivers.

Speaking of various receivers, the Chiefs had to rely on just about every horse they had in the stable due to star tight end Travis Kelce being out with a bone bruise in his knee. It's impossible to directly replace that level of All-Pro production and while Reid knows that, he wasn't using Kelce's absence as an excuse for the loss. 

"No excuses at all," Reid said. "We've got guys that can play, we were right there to take care of business. They got us on special teams and continued the drive, they got us on the tipped ball... listen, it's unusual for the guys that dropped the ball to drop the ball. That's not what I've seen from them; I wouldn't expect them to do that. So if you do that, you take care of business there and you'll be alright. 

Another area in which the Chiefs fell short against Detroit was in short-yardage situations. The most notable one came on a third-and-1 direct snap to tight end Blake Bell in the fourth quarter. Ever since Mahomes suffered a fluke knee injury years ago, Kansas City has refused to opt for a quarterback sneak using him when needed. Bell has instead been the player of choice in those scenarios, but this variation led to rookie receiver Rashee Rice getting the ball in motion and losing three yards. Tommy Townsend then punted, ending the drive. Reid confirmed that improving in these kinds of situations has been an emphasis, and he once again took responsibility for the failure. 

"We worked hard on that, so we've got to get better," Reid said. "We weren't very good last year at it, and we spent a lot of time working on that. So we've got to keep going here. I'll take that. That's my responsibility to get that taken care of." 

One of the few bright spots for the Chiefs in the aftermath of a crushing loss: Week 2 is quite a ways away for them. That Jacksonville Jaguars matchup doesn't come until Sept. 17, so there's some extra time to iron things out and potentially even get Kelce back for the first road game of the year. Doug Pederson's squad is another playoff-caliber opponent, so every bit of added help is beneficial. Reid's message to the team now? Everyone needs to be better.

"Disappointing loss," Reid said. "Good football team that we lost to, but we've got to play better. We've got to coach better, so that's what we'll do."

Read More: Four Takeaways From the Chiefs' 21-20 Loss to the Lions