The Kansas City Chiefs, along with the rest of the AFC conference, are a disaster. Where does Kansas City sit following a second consecutive loss?
Following a second consecutive loss for the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, it’s hard to find optimism or signs of hope for better things to come. Injuries continue to crush this team and there is no time for players to rest. Kansas City enters a short week to travel and take on the Denver Broncos in Week 7. With the Oakland Raiders on a bye week, the Chiefs remain a half game ahead of their AFC rival in the West.
Kansas City was again without numerous starting players against the Houston Texans in Week 6 including Sammy Watkins, Chris Jones, Anthony Hitchens, Eric Fisher, and Andrew Wylie. The return of Tyreek Hill provided some hope, but his limited snaps were not enough to overcome other areas.Patrick Mahomes continues to get eaten alive, which force off-target throws due to the inability to plant his feet.
Both sides of the ball are struggling to produce. While we can sit here and say that the defense has been awful, the offense hasn’t produced to its expectations either. Head coach Andy Reid looked to have helped Patrick Mahomes in the first half of the game against the Texans with designed screens and shallow routes to get the ball out quickly but reverted right back to the long-developing plays downfield when Hill was not on the field.
The defense continues to struggle against the running attack of opposing teams with the interior of the defensive line and linebackers being the major issue. Chris Jones or not, this defense gets dominated up the middle. The pass coverage has been flagged for just about every deep play by opposing teams as the cornerbacks struggle to carry downfield. All three phases of the Chiefs are underperforming, injured, and need to find some kind of way to pull it together before Thursday night.
Luckily, the AFC has been a wreck in 2019 which helps give the Chiefs some cushion near the top for playoff seeding. Unfortunately, the number one seed is getting further out of reach after consecutive losses. Let’s take a look at the rest of the AFC picture.