Four Takeaways From the Chiefs' 27-24 Loss to the Bengals

Here are four takeaways from the Chiefs' Week 13 road matchup against the Bengals.

Entering play on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs held the AFC's No. 1 seed for the playoffs and were looking for a win over the hosting Cincinnati Bengals. This wasn't just any conference game, however, as a rematch of January's AFC Championship Game garnered a ton of buzz throughout the week as one of the best games of the year. 

After a competitive 60 minutes and the game mostly living up to the hype, it was the Bengals who ended up coming out on top in a 27-24 battle. Zac Taylor's squad is now 3-0 against the Chiefs dating back to last season and is very much right in the thick of things in the conference. 

Here are four takeaways from Sunday's game.

1. Tackling and pressure issues plagued the defense

Like a mirror image of the aforementioned AFC Championship Game, Kansas City struggled to wrap up Cincinnati ballcarriers and didn't deal with their physicality well at all during the game. Additionally, Steve Spagnuolo's defensive front couldn't get pressure on Joe Burrow and left him far too much time to pick the linebackers and secondary apart. Kansas City got dominated over the middle of the field, with Nick Bolton and others struggling in coverage as well. Spagnuolo's defense was a major reason why the Chiefs lost, as giving up 431 total yards to any team isn't a recipe for success.

2. Mistakes piled up during the game 

Whether it was Andy Reid electing for three points on the Chiefs' first offensive drive or him taking the ball out of Patrick Mahomes' hands late in the fourth quarter, Kansas City's coaching staff didn't have a good day. Elsewhere, tight end Travis Kelce's fourth-quarter fumble proved to be costly and Mahomes missing a wide-open Jerick McKinnon on a fateful third down also played a role in the defeat. Kansas City has gotten away with errors this year due to its otherwise tremendous play but against the best teams in the NFL, that margin isn't nearly as wide. It showed on the road against Cincinnati, and that's without diving back into the defensive mishaps.

3. Patrick Mahomes wasn't quite good enough

Mahomes's failure to hit McKinnon was his biggest shortcoming on Sunday, but his overall play was a mixed bag. His offensive line's performance wasn't great, but he also didn't do the group a ton of favors in relation to pocket presence. Adding in a dropped interception and a couple of other questionable decisions, and his final stat line of 223 passing yards and a single touchdown is mostly reflective of his performance. Mahomes wasn't the problem — or even a problem — in Week 13, but he also wasn't what the Chiefs needed in order to get the win.

4. Kansas City no longer controls its own destiny

By dropping to 9-3 on the year, the Chiefs also drop out of the top spot in the AFC because they also lost to the Buffalo Bills earlier this season. Reid's group was in full control of its own destiny in the conference standings before Week 13, but now Kansas City is relying on getting help from Buffalo's future opponents in order to recapture that first-round bye. That also doesn't take into account any other potential risers, such as Cincinnati. The AFC West is still far from a concern, but having the road to the postseason run through Arrowhead Stadium is always a plus for the Chiefs. Now, that path becomes more difficult to ensure.