KC Chiefs aren’t a Super Bowl team
The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in a rather embarrassing fashion and one thing became perfectly clear.
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t a Super Bowl team.
The Chiefs offense wasn’t perfect in the first half vs. the Bills but they were able to move the football. Unfortunately, it became evident quite quickly that if Mahomes and company didn’t score a touchdown every time they got the ball, they were in big trouble. Despite having 15 first downs to Buffalo’s 10, despite holding a time of possession advantage of 19:07 to 10:53, the Chiefs entered the half down 24-13.
The second half actually started well for the defense, getting two consecutive stops. Unfortunately, the KC offense couldn’t back their play. After punting on their first series, Patrick Mahomes threw a pass to Tyreek Hill which he neglected to catch, resulting in a pick-six.
From there it was a comedy of errors. There was another Mahomes pick, a couple of bad penalties, another Bills TD drive and terrible roughing the passer call that went against the Chiefs. It was a slow death for the Chiefs the rest of the way.
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We’re five games into the season and we have all the data we need. It doesn’t matter how brilliant Patrick Mahomes is. It doesn’t matter how explosive or efficient the Chiefs offense is. It doesn’t matter that Andy Reid is a Hall of Fame coach. The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t a Super Bowl team because as good as their offense is, their defense is worse.
The Chiefs defense looks like a bunch of guys who are playing the wrong sport. The defensive line is an embarrassment. They can’t set the edge. They can’t get pressure don’t the quarterback. They get blown off the ball. They’re annoying speedbump on the way to a touchdown.
The Chiefs linebackers run not on grass but in molasses. They can’t cover and they can’t get to the edge. They blindly run into gaps while running backs saunter by them.
The Chiefs cornerbacks can’t cover. They also can’t count on the safeties behind them to do, well, anything. Big plays are handed out like gifts to children on Christmas day.
The defense is so bad that it has robbed the Chiefs of their mystique. They would never admit it but teams around the NFL used to fear the Chiefs. They knew they had to be perfect on offense and catch a couple of breaks on defense to even have a chance.
Now?
Teams know the Chiefs can’t stop them. Sure, they still have a healthy respect for the Kansas City offense but they are starting to figure out that it doesn’t matter because the Chiefs defense is so bad, they make every offense they play look like the Chiefs offense.
Can all of this change? Of course. The defense is made up largely of the same players that, while not dominant, were serviceable in 2020. We know this defense can play better because we have seen them do it. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to.
It can change. I hope it changes. But right now, the Chiefs aren’t a Super Bowl team.
Hell, at 2-3, I’m not even sure they’re a playoff team.