Chiefs Struggle Again in Short-Yardage Situations Against Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs scored just 22 points against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, marking their lowest scoring output since October 2019. The main culprit? Failures on third down and in the red zone.

Though the Kansas City Chiefs were able to score 22 points against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the offense failed to generate success inside the red zone and on third down.

Sixteen of the Chiefs’ points, five field goals and an extra point, came off the foot of kicker Harrison Butker in the 22-16 win. Four of the field goals came at the end of unsuccessful trips into the red zone, where the short-yardage struggles were most evident for Kansas City.

In addition to the red zone issues, the Chiefs failed to convert on seven of their 10 third downs.

“Those sons of guns got us in the first one and we didn’t do that great in the second one,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game. “The thing you got to do is narrow down shots there, get the distance cut down and do better on first and second down. That’s where we got to prove that. Against them, with the pass rush that they have, it’s where we've got to be.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs offense inside the red zone four times. None of the visits ended in touchdowns, stemming from the inability to gain first downs on 3rd-and-4, 3rd-and-1 and 3rd-and-8.

The offense also failed to convert on 2nd-and-5 with seven seconds remaining in the first half, paving the way to a 23-yard field goal from Butker.

“I didn’t do a good job in the red zone, giving the guys opportunities to get themselves in,” Reid said. “I’ll go back and work on that part. We’ll make sure we put these guys in a good position to make some plays down in there whether it’s the run game or the pass game.”

In total, the Chiefs ran the ball on just one third-down attempt — a six-yard scramble by Mahomes to bring a first down in the third quarter.

Two plays later, Mahomes hit tight end Travis Kelce on a 20-yard touchdown pass. The score pushed the Chiefs ahead 19-16. A 48-yard field goal by Butker with 1:08 remaining put the final cap on the win.

“They just wanted to get it right and they knew we were close on so many different occasions,” Reid said. “Everybody just kind of bared down, went to it and reached a little bit deeper. Instead of complaining, they just reached a little deeper and tried to find an answer.”