Chiefs Have To Own Up To Poor Play And Get Better
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Nobody likes losing, and if you do, there’s a good chance that there could be something wrong with you.
It’s not natural to enjoy losing. Human beings are competitive by nature. Whether it’s our natural will to survive or the positive side of pride—most of us want to be the best at what we do.
Losing hurts. It churns our stomachs and puts a sour taste in our mouths. It puts us in a bad mood and for some of us, steals or sleep.
The Chiefs have felt this sensation two weeks in a row now, and this is coming off a stretch that saw them win nine games in a row.
Losing streaks are never fun, but it’s the Chiefs job as a professional football team to dig down deep and figure out a way to overcome and press forward.
The Chiefs need to get back on the winning track, and according to Andy Reid, accountability will be an important part in that process.
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
“That’s important to have within the locker room. We all know we can get better. We have to make sure we fix a couple of things and get it right,” Reid said. “As long as everybody is real with themselves—I mentioned that feels like you had your heart ripped (out) — well that’s how it feels after a loss. You spend so much time and effort, both physical and mental, getting yourself ready to play in a game, that when you come up short, then you feel that way,” he explained.
“You’re real with that and you don’t want that to go away. That’s an important part of it. The important part is that you look inside and make sure you get done what you need to get done so that you can rebound that next week and play good football.”
Rebounding will be easier said than done, and that’s an unfortunate truth this week.
The Denver Broncos come to town fresh off their own loss in overtime to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Denver will also be trying to get rid of that horrible feeling of losing, and last time these two teams met up, Peyton Manning and the Broncos’ offense put up 427 yards and 27 points on the board.
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The Chiefs have to get back to their winning ways, and if that means holding each other accountable, so be it.
That means blockers need to block, tacklers need to tackle, and playmakers need to make big plays. We saw that on offense this week against San Diego, but now the defense needs to regain its old form.
The Chiefs’ defense has allowed far too many big plays during this losing skid, and that’s something else Reid talked about.
“Defensively, we have to—I would tell you about both sides of the ball and special teams—we have to execute better. The short catches and long games, you have to negate those. Good passing teams are going to catch the football and you have to tackle them at that point and not give up the big yards”, Reid explained.
“We had a chance again for a couple of turnovers there, one right down the stretch. The ball bounces funny, so we weren’t able to pick up on that. But we had a chance for two big ones, one for a score that they ended up throwing the ball in the end zone for a score,” he said. “We were in a position to make an interception there, and it ended up being three points, but points are big in a game there when you’re going back and forth.”
“That last drive we had a chance. We had a 3rd-and-10 there. I’ll tell you that my defense, I have tremendous confidence in them in situations like that. I think we all felt that something good was going to happen right there, and 99-percent of the time, my defense is going to hold the team when the offense has put up 38 points,” Reid said. “My trust level hasn’t decreased a bit in the guys at all on either side of the ball. The main point here is that we need to get better.”
And just how do the Chiefs work on getting better? What kind of adjustments do they have to make?
“Well, we’re working on that,” Reid said. “We’re all doing that, as coaches and players. I can’t sit here the last two weeks and tell you we’re not in the win column, so we have to do more.”
“That’s the fact of it. We have to do a better job—a better job coaching, a better job playing, keep working hard and keep the attitude right.”