KC Chiefs vs. Bengals: Depressing takeaways from a complete meltdown
By Matt Conner
The Chiefs remain their own worst enemy
Yes, the Bengals did enough to win the game. They took advantage of key moments. They played smart football. They made the requisite adjustments, and they’re certainly a very talented team—all of which is why they were in this position in the first place. But what was true all season long proved true again on Sunday in that the Chiefs are their own worst enemy.
During the first third of the season (or more), the Chiefs found themselves mired in the basement of the AFC West for weeks due to their own sloppy play. The tackling was atrocious. The pass rush was non-existent. They took poor angles in pursuit. The offense wasn’t that much better with plenty of drops and lots of giveaways. As for penalties, both sides did their part.
On Sunday, the Chiefs came into the third quarter in the same way. First was the weird first-and-goal from their own 1-yard line in which they came away with ZERO points heading into halftime. Then came successive drops by Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to stall the first drive of the third quarter. From there, the Chiefs sputtered and ultimately stalled, even as Mahomes threw multiple interceptions (and others that could have been).
Suddenly the Chiefs went from that first-and-goal scenario with a chance to go up by 18 before halftime to down by three in the fourth quarter. They came back to tie the game and send it to overtime but the Bengals intercepted Mahomes there and moved the chains close enough for Evan McPherson to end the game with a short field goal. Just like that, the meltdown was complete.