The Chiefs offense has never looked so constipated

Sunday’s game marked the first time since Patrick Mahomes took over as a starter that the Kansas City Chiefs were held under 26 points.

With a frustrating loss at home at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts, the Kansas City Chiefs will be licking their wounds as they try to sort out the root of what went wrong in the game. It’s hard to find where to begin in the 19-13 loss. There isn’t one play, one player, or one sequence to blame.

This was ugly.

Unlike other losses in the Patrick Mahomes era, this wasn’t a barnburner. Losses at New England and at the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 were blazing back-and-forth track meets. Those really just felt like the Chiefs had fewer points when the clock hit zero. Not this one. This was a brawl in a back alley, with a lot of guys passed out by the dumpster.

Sunday marked the first time since Mahomes took over as a starter that the Chiefs were held under 26 points. No one predicted that would happen to the Colts in Week 5, especially with the Colts missing several key players on defense.

When the dust settled at Arrowhead, the Chiefs accumulated just 36 yards rushing (17 on scrambles from Mahomes). Running back LeSean McCoy received zero rushing attempts, and utterly disappeared after his 2nd quarter fumble on the heels of a 21-yard pass reception. Outside of a wasted breakout performance from wide receiver Byron Pringle, the receiving corps underperformed against an Indianapolis secondary upon which they were supposed to feast. The offensive line allowed Mahomes to be sacked four times; once more than he was sacked in the first four games of 2019 combined.

Unfortunately, the defense was equally frustrating. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit got some key stops in the first half, but there’s no masking the fact that the defense was on the field for over 22 minutes in the second half. Without several key players, fatigue was too much to overcome in the Chiefs’ front seven. The Colts’ elite line imposed their will over what ended up being most of Kansas City’s second-string front seven. Indianapolis achieved 12 first downs on the ground and pounded the run with 45 attempts for 180 yards in the win.

One can point to injuries (there were a ton) or penalties (there were a ton) if that makes the pain go away, but the line of scrimmage was dominated by the Colts at Arrowhead on Sunday, and there is no contesting that. We have never witnessed a Patrick-Mahomes-led offense that was handcuffed like they were at the hands of Frank Reich and the Colts on Sunday night.

All is not lost. The good news for Kansas City is that in the NFL’s regular season, the standings are the only thing that matters. The Chiefs still hold a firm grip on their lead in the AFC West. Pipe dreams like a 19-0 season are gone, and the team has now lost their sense of invincibility. The Chiefs will have to recalibrate their approach to their upcoming tilt with the Houston Texans, who annihilated Atlanta on Sunday by the score of 53-32.