KC Chiefs Echoing a Familiar Sentiment After Rough Game on Offense

Another difficult loss for the Chiefs brings a lot of familiar thoughts from head coach and quarterback in the immediate aftermath.

The Kansas City Chiefs' offense, as it has multiple times this year, ended up being the difference in a one-score loss. This time, it was the Raiders who stole Christmas from Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and company on Monday afternoon on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

In some ways, the raw box score is funny to look at with different stats picked out. For example, Kansas City averaged more yards per play than Las Vegas and outgained them by 97 net yards. They also held the ball for over 34 minutes and were more efficient on third down. Usually, a team that does that will come out on the winning end.

But then you factor in two turnovers, five penalties and seemingly countless other mistakes to get a clearer picture. The Chiefs simply didn't hold up their end of the bargain on offense despite another great game from Steve Spagnuolo's defense. Afterward, Reid echoed a sentiment he's shared several times following similar defeats in the past. 

"We were just off a tick," Reid said. "And, again, that's my responsibility to make sure I give them the right stuff to work with in the run game and the pass game. That's what's got to take place." 

It was pretty clear in the second quarter that Kansas City was in for a rough game overall. On back-to-back offensive plays, Mahomes and running back Isiah Pacheco botched a delivery that got returned for a touchdown and then Mahomes got picked off by Jack Jones for another score. That swung the game from a 7-3 Chiefs lead to a 17-7 Raiders advantage. Mahomes was never able to recover, playing a sloppy brand of football and covering more ground in Week 16 than he had in any other game this season.

Mahomes's instant reaction was that the Chiefs have no choice but to move on and focus on their Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals. In addition to saying he still believes Kansas City can accomplish its ultimate goal of a Super Bowl, the reigning NFL MVP stressed the same keys he's hammered home all year: cleaning things up and remaining consistent. 

"I think more than anything, it's just consistency," Mahomes said. "I think I've said it, but you see drives where we drive it right down the field and score and we're doing everything the right way. And then you see drives where we kind of hurt ourselves — you see drives where we stall out quick. We have to continue to prove it because defenses, they're not changing. I mean, it's a lot of the same coverages but different variations by different teams and they're just doing their good [job] of flipping the coverages, playing man when they need to, playing zone when they need to and then counting on us to make mistakes. And we have. 

"If we clean it up, we'll be able to score points. It's just... we've got to clean it up. We're [at] two games left. You have to do it and if you don't, we'll be going home. If we clean it up, we can beat anybody. I truly believe that, but we've got to prove that we can do it." 

The unfortunate thing for the Chiefs is that they're running out of opportunities to prove that they can "do it." Would clean wins over the Bengals or Los Angeles Chargers be enough to spark the offense in time for the playoffs? It's possible, albeit not too likely. This is who Kansas City has been for an entire season. Teams typically don't flip the script right in late December. There initially was a bit of leeway around Thanksgiving. The next holiday doesn't provide nearly the same window for optimism.

Reid, Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs' offense know that everyone is operating on a very finite amount of time. The sense of urgency appears to be there, but is the talent and collective chemistry or brainpower? That answer could be revealed in the coming weeks. If not, as Mahomes pointed out, the postseason run will end early and it'll likely be due to these types of mistakes. In that event, similar answers could be provided by the pillars of the team once again. 

Four Takeaways From the Chiefs' 20-14 Loss to the Raiders