Kansas City Chiefs: 8 Takeaways From Week 7’s Heart-Pounding Thriller
By Brett Gering
3. Drops Continue To Stalk The Chiefs
Oct 19, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Junior Hemingway (88) grimaces as he walks off the field during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into Sunday, the Chiefs were haunted by the the fifth-most drops in the NFL. The ending to the first half showed why that’s significant.
Running a slant, Hemingway dropped a picture-perfect third-down pass from Alex Smith. That, in turn, punctuated the drive, and the Chargers were given enough time to march down the field and fling a touchdown before halftime.
That’s a bad and shocking drop by Junior Hemingway. This is a guy who rarely dropped a pass last year.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) October 19, 2014
Dwayne Bowe, who had an otherwise productive afternoon, also dropped a would-be third-down conversion in the third quarter, turning a promising drive into another field-goal attempt.
Drops are drive-killers. They halt momentum and swing the pendulum in the opposite direction.
If Kansas City hopes to return to the playoffs, Alex Smith’s pass-catchers will need to buff the rough edges.