Mecole Hardman Shoulders Blame for KC Chiefs’ Week 8 Loss to Denver Broncos

Kansas City's fifth-year wideout says his "greedy" fourth-quarter mistake cost his team the game on Sunday.

The Kansas City Chiefs made plenty of costly mistakes in their Week 8 loss to the Denver Broncos. Wide receiver Mecole Hardman's muffed punt was just one part of what was otherwise a long list, although he believes the play had a huge impact on the game's final outcome. 

Hardman, who was acquired via traded from the New York Jets less than two weeks ago, has been special teams coordinator Dave Toub's primary option in the return game in back-to-back outings. Last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs' former second-round pick delivered a clutch 50-yard punt return in his first game back in Kansas City. He had no such luck on Sunday, though, and says he was trying so hard to make something happen that he cost his team the game. 

“I got greedy; I got selfish," Hardman said. "Trying to make a play down there. Should have been a fair catch or let the ball bounce. That’s [a] problem, like the reason that we probably lost the game. I just let that thing go or fair catch it and secure the catch. I believe we were still down eight—five. So that’s probably the one [play] that cost the game for us. I’ll probably take responsibility for that one. I definitely take responsibility actually for losing that game. Because you never know, [I] let that ball go, I catch it at the five-[yard-line] or wherever it was, and we go down to score and that’s it. So I’ve just got to be more smart.”

Despite being in Chiefs territory at the 36-yard line, the Broncos decided to punt on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal. The fourth-and-17 distance entirely wiped out the possibility of going for it on fourth down, but a field goal wouldn't have been impossible. In fact, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker drained a 56-yard boot earlier in the game in the same nasty conditions Denver was facing. The field position battle was enough to entice a punt and it ended up working out, but the process was questionable. 

Riley Dixon's 31-yarder was set to either pin the Chiefs deep in their own territory via a fair catch or down, or it could have rolled into the end zone for a touchback that would've bought the Broncos some yardage relative to potentially missing a field goal. Instead, Hardman let the ball go right through his hands and Drew Sanders recovered it at the 10-yard line. Denver went on to score just two plays later on a Russell Wilson touchdown pass that ultimately sealed the game. Hardman elaborated on trying to make a play, citing the need for something to ignite the team. 

“Just being aggressive," Hardman said. "Things weren’t going on. No energy, no spark. Just trying to find our rhythm, just trying to be the guy to give us some energy or spark right there. But I just got to know where I’m at on the field. Ball was slick, dropped it straight through my hands. Just got to be better. So I take responsibility again, right there. That one is on me. I’ve got to make sure I’m better next week.”

It was a game of wasted chances and mental errors for the Chiefs on Sunday, with a combination of the aforementioned turnovers going hand-in-hand with penalties and a general lack of execution to produce such a poor final product. This 15-point loss was the club's worst since the 2021 season, serving as a reminder of how thorough Kansas City has been in recent campaigns. According to Hardman, next week's response has to stem from locating what went wrong on Sunday and simply being more efficient. 

“We missed our opportunities," Hardman said. "[Not] staying on the field, I mean getting off the field on third down. We’ve got a lot to look at the film and see what we could be better at but you’ve got to take advantage of [the] opportunities that we get and just go from there."

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