Everyone is blown away by Kansas City’s 3-4 start. Everyone is flabbergasted by the fact that the Chiefs have 17 turnovers, more than any NFL team.
Yes, you read that right. Through seven games, the Chiefs already have 17 turnovers. They had 16 in 2020, 15 in 2019, and 18 in 2018. We aren’t even at the halfway point of the season and the Chiefs already have more giveaways this year than each of the last two years and are one away from tying their 2018 total.
Here is the frustrating part: the Chiefs aren’t just turning the ball right away at the start of a drive each time. Most of their turnovers, 10 to be exact, have come inside opposing team territory. Among those 10 giveaways in enemy territory, five of them have occurred in the red zone.
The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the best teams in the NFL at moving the football and scoring, but their long drives keep ending in a turnover.
That tells you that the Chiefs are finding ways to move the football. The Chiefs are averaging 419 yards per game, which is the third-best in the NFL. The Chiefs have 187 first downs, the best in the NFL with Tampa Bay coming in second with 182. The Titans are third with 167. Despite scoring only three points during Sunday’s blowout loss, the Chiefs are eighth in points per game.
The Chiefs are moving the football and moving the chains. They are finding ways to get close to the end zone, but aren’t finishing their drives on a strong note. Some of it has been due to tipped passes with pass-catchers. Some of it has been poor decision-making from Mahomes. Overall, ball security has been bad for the Chiefs, especially when they are within striking distance.
The Chiefs have the league’s most talented tight end and wide receiver in Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill. Hill has broken multiple franchise records, such as single-season numbers for yards and touchdown catches in recent memory while Kelce has broken the record for most receiving yards by a tight end in a season twice. The Chiefs have a strong supporting cast with a lot of speed for Mahomes to throw to.
But as we learned, having all of that talent won’t mean anything if a team can’t protect the football. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the turnover woes don’t look like they are going away anytime soon.
Head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have been praised for how they have coached Mahomes through this offense the last three years. Now, they must find a way to get the offense to focus and make the turnovers a thing of the past. That might be easier said than done.