Kansas City Chiefs fans can panic now

ArmchairAddict1 /

Kansas City Chiefs fans, you can officially panic now.

I’m not a fan of being overly dramatic or overreacting to one game but after the Chiefs lost to the abysmal New York Giants on Sunday, 12-9 in overtime, I think the time for optimism is now over. The Kansas City Chiefs are in trouble. Just two weeks ago I told you not to lose hope. To go from there to declaring it is time to panic in one game may seem a little extremist, but the Chiefs undermined my entire argument for keeping the faith with that pathetic dumpster fire of a game against one of the worst teams in the NFL. I can no longer argue with those of you that have given up hope on the Chiefs being a contender this season.

Two weeks ago I acknowledged that the Chiefs were in a slump entering their bye week. My thought was that they were still in a good spot in the rankings and that given Andy Reid’s history of doing well after the bye week, the Chiefs were poised to snap out of their funk. They looked ready to start to build some momentum back up as they headed down the home stretch of the season. The fact that the Chiefs not only failed to snap out of their funk but actually looked the worst they have all season (at least on offense) is a really bad sign. Just as their season opening win at New England showed that the Chiefs could win any game, the Chiefs loss to the then 1-8 Giants now shows that they can lose every game remaining on their schedule.

Andy Reid has his faults as a head coach, but he’s typically been an excellent teacher and given extra time to prepare his teams usually come in firing on all cylinders. That would have been a welcome sight after their 1-3 stretch leading into the bye week. The fact that the Chiefs couldn’t get things back on track with an extra week to prepare and facing one of the worst teams in all the NFL leaves us fans wondering if this team is capable of ever getting things back to where they were when they started the season 5-0.

If you wanted to try and put a silver lining on the steaming pile of dog excrement that was Sunday’s game, I suppose you could try to argue that the defense improved by only allowing 12 points in a game that went into overtime. The problem with that argument is that the Giants offense is putrid. They dropped what felt like 37 passes during the game, have one of the worst offensive lines in football, and thanks to injuries, their offensive roster is made up of Eli Manning and ten guys you have never heard of. So the fact that the Chiefs couldn’t make a meaningful stop late in the game and failed to get pressure on Manning against that offensive line makes any praise for the defense ring hollow. How does Justin Houston not register a sack going against a rookie right tackle making his first NFL start?

No, the defense has to own this stink pile as well even if they weren’t AS craptastic as the offense was.

That brings me to the offense.

It’s awful.

Embarrassing.

Sloppy.

Physically soft.

No killer instinct.

No ability to finish.

I could keep going but you get the idea.

You want to blame Alex Smith? I can’t argue with you. He was terrible.

You want to blame Andy Reid? I can’t argue with you. The playcalling stinks. The execution stinks. The team’s energy is as flat as his play calling sheet. That’s all on him.

You want to blame the offensive line? I can’t argue with you. There is NO push in the run game. None. They couldn’t push a 40 pound little girl on roller skates. They couldn’t move the Giants defensive line that has been AWFUL against the run. Kareem Hunt may not be AS explosive as he was early in the year but he’s a heck of a lot better than his numbers have shown in the last five games and that’s on the offensive line.

You want to blame the supporting cast of playmakers outside of Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Kareem Hunt? I can’t argue with you. Demetrius Harris? Terrible. Ross Travis? Terrible. DeAnthony Thomas on both offense and special teams? Terrible. Akeem Hunt? Terrible. Charcandrick West? Terrible.

So to summarize the state of the Chiefs right now.

The coaching stinks.

The defense stinks.

The offense stinks.

The team is playing lifeless and sloppy with no real fire and stupid penalties that kill whatever little bit of momentum that they stumble into. They get physically pushed around WAY too often, especially their offensive line.

More from Arrowhead Addict

The Chiefs may still have a commanding lead on the AFC West but that is only because their division currently stinks as bad as they do. The Chiefs will probably find a way to hold off the rest of the division and make the playoffs but there is zero reason to have confidence that things will go well once they get there. I have been STRONGLY opposed to the argument that the Chiefs should bench Alex Smith and start Patrick Mahomes this season. Smith has put up good numbers overall, the Chiefs are leading their division, and Mahomes should be given as much time to learn under Reid and Smith before he is thrown to the wolves. However, this team needs a wake up call. This team needs something to turn the tide and help this quickly sinking ship. It’s starting to become harder and harder to argue against a move to Mahomes.

It’s sad to say but given the Chiefs performance over their 1-4 stretch dating back the last month and a half, the only thing most Chiefs fans are looking forward to is the start of the Mahomes era. There aren’t many teams in the history of the NFL that have found themselves with a winning record and leading their division by a couple of games at this point of the season with that little optimism, but that’s where we’re at after this loss.

It is officially time to panic in Kansas City.

As always, thanks for reading and go Chiefs. (They don’t deserve all caps and exclamation points this week)

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