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Kansas City Chiefs need to start playing ‘complementary football’ to win

By Josh Haberl

FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 14: Tremon Smith #39 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs with the ball in the third quarter of a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 14: Tremon Smith #39 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs with the ball in the third quarter of a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /
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The Kansas City Chiefs need to play complementary football to have success against the Seattle Seahawks and on into the postseason.

The idea is simple enough, and in fact, it’s often overused by commentators to explain why a team is or is not having success. Despite “complementary football” being shorthand for a lot of different, things, I think it’s clear the Kansas City Chiefs have not played great complementary football over the last few weeks. This is whether you look at the number of penalties, wasted opportunities, or poor execution in key moments. To be brief, to get a win in Seattle and eventually in the playoffs, that will have to change.

A few examples over the last few weeks stick out. Late in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs offense couldn’t get a first down and punted the ball away. The punt coverage unit had a rare lapse at an inopportune time, and the Ravens returned the punt all the way into the red zone, leading to the go-ahead touchdown.

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Then, after Patrick Mahomes spectacularly tied the game late in the fourth, the defense forced a turnover that gave the Chiefs the ball back in field goal role. Complementary football? Not so fast, as the field goal attempt was no good, and it took overtime to finish off the Baltimore Ravens.

While special teams units were the culprit in those two examples, they were on the other side at least twice last week. Midway through the second quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers, Tremon Smith brought a kickoff out across the 50-yard line. Then a quick three and out by the Chiefs’ offense led to a punt (a decision that could warrant an entirely separate discussion).

Despite the offense’s inability to capitalize on great field position, special teams came through again on the punt, pinning the Chargers at their own 5-yard line. A tremendous interception by Kendall Fuller eventually stopped the Chargers, but only after 84 yards and 7 full minutes came off the clock.

In both scenarios, the special teams unit set up the offense or defense to succeed, but they could not. When the defense finally rallied with a big turnover on that 7-minute drive, the offense went three-and-out again. Then, at the end of the game, all three units got in on the act with penalties, poor execution, and ultimately a loss.

It’s easy to pick out certain sequences to make them fit a narrative, but the fact remains that the success of one unit for the Chiefs has not translated into success for other units—or at least, not as frequently as one would hope.

The first two possessions of the Chargers game are great examples of what complementary football looks like (turnover by the defense, offense able to score seven points off of it). The Chiefs need to trend more towards that than the former examples provided.

Next. Film Room: How the Chiefs can beat the Seahawks. dark

The Chiefs margin for error is just less than it was a month ago, and how all three units play, and link their quality of play, simply matters more now.

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