Five reasons for Chiefs Kingdom to keep the faith for 2021
By Matt Conner
You weren’t wrong about the talent level
Andy Reid. Patrick Mahomes. Travis Kelce. Tyreek Hill. They are all going into the Hall of Fame one day.
Some things seem off, yes. Andy Reid has made some very questionable calls as of late. Patrick Mahomes is forcing things and trying to do too much. Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill look banged up a bit and could likely use a bye week. But that doesn’t mean that suddenly these figures are unable to do what made them household names in the first place. The talent is still there.
The same is true of other places. Chris Jones hasn’t been as dominant up front this year, but for years, he has been the most dominant defensive tackle in the AFC. He was just voted as the No. 34 player in the entire NFL before the season arrived. So what is true, then? That he’s lost his talent? That he’s not going to disrupt the passer at all going forward? Or that the Chiefs have had a poor stretch of play from which they will recover?
The same can be said of Jarran Reed, who was universally praised as an impact acquisition for the Chiefs. What’s true here: that everyone was wrong about Reed and what he could bring to a team? That he’s run out of juice at the ripe old age of 28? Or maybe that he’s hard a hard time adjusting to a new team for the first time but could come out of it with more experience?
So far, Chiefs Kingdom has been down on Tyrann Mathieu, L’Jarius Sneed, Charvarius Ward, Frank Clark, Orlando Brown Jr., and Anthony Hitchens along with Clark and Reed. Together as a defense, they deserve a heavy dose of criticism. They have looked horrible as a defensive unit and each player has taken his lumps individually. But some of the criticism has also turned to long-term cynicism, as if these players still aren’t the same dynamic talents that had fans so excited before the season.
Yes, one or two of those aforementioned players might be done. Perhaps there’s an undisclosed injury that they’re playing through. Maybe there are attitude issues or some players are phoning it in. But it’s also true that seven games might just be a bad stretch.