Explaining the fall of the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs

It’s worth noting that special teams, at least from a return perspective, have played a far less significant role than it did for the Chiefs in 2016. Now that Tyreek Hill’s a No. 1 receiver, he’s been used sparingly in a return capacity. DeAnthony Thomas and Akeem Hunt don’t threaten coverage units in a comparable way, and we’ve seen fewer big plays as a result. Coordinator Dave Toub has experimented some with personnel, but clearly hasn’t found a working formula through 10 games.

Injuries have also played a significant role to demise of the previously undefeated Chiefs. Kansas City didn’t come out of the bye week quite as healthy as they expected. Four players of note didn’t dress last Sunday (Tamba Hali, Dee Ford, Allen Bailey and Albert Wilson). Despite having been on the physically unable to perform list for most of the season, Hali sat with swelling in his knee after his season debut in Dallas. Ford and Wilson’s injuries have been nagging them for weeks now. It’s clear now that the Chiefs lack the kind of depth necessary to shoulder a such high volume of injury.