3 Chiefs concerns that need attention during the early bye week

No matter how big a win or bad a loss, every week is a learning opportunity, and the mindset of simply improving every single day is exactly what makes NFL football and the Chiefs a dynastic force to be reckoned with. That is no different this week, especially after a mistake-filled 30-27 victory in Las Vegas that saw more than a few players who need to step up in the practice facilities during the bye week.

Just like previous weeks, the Chiefs were able to get a victory over an opponent that benefited from mistakes that Kansas City continuously made. Many of those players who needed to step up did so in the next game—just look at L'Jarius Sneed—but this week is different due to the Chiefs' very early Week 5 bye week.

That means these players, even the highly paid, big-name Chiefs who have a history of success, have an extra week in the gym and an extra week in the practice facilities to help them get back to baseline and above when the Chargers come to town on October 18.

Creed Humphrey needs to step up and snap out of it

The best center in the league, according to many metrics, is allowed to have a bad day sometimes. But his mistakes have been noticeable in bigger and bigger moments, including a few low snaps in Vegas and a botched snap on a possible game-clinching play late in the game.

Despite the Chiefs going up double digits with just over three minutes to go, the Raiders managed to make it a three-point game within 80 seconds. (That's another story for another time. And just then, with the possibility of losing the divisional game still up in the air, Humphrey fired yet another low snap.

Luckily, this season's low snaps have been casually and calmly collected by Mahomes, but this one was not. It spitfired backward and nearly caused the Chiefs to lose the ball with 90 seconds left or even give Vegas a scoop-and-score possibility that would have put KC down with barely a minute to go.

Humphrey's low snaps have never been as deplorable as some other centers' in the league, but they have become noticeable after he had a rough game in Kansas City's Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, and they have become noticeable in big moments like the play against Las Vegas.

Up until the Raiders gave Tyler Linderbaum a three-year, $81 million ($27M/yr.) contract this past March, it was Humphrey leading the league as the highest-paid center at $18,000,000 per year. That price tag is just another major reason that Humphrey needs to step it up before Week 6, that and the fact that he is the only person to touch the ball before Mahomes, and if he continues to snap lackadaisically, then it might not be No. 15 picking it up 20 yards behind the line ... it could be the opponent.

Wide Receivers, all of them, need to take the next step

The play that saw Tyquan Thornton dislocate his ankle was crushing to all of Chiefs Kingdom for a series of reasons. The main one, obviously, is that he was having the best game of his career, and it finally looked like Mahomes had truly clicked with a deep threat for the first time since Tyreek Hill left for Miami four years ago.

Then came the sobering realization that Kansas City is suddenly without a true WR1 or WR2, with Rashee Rice already exited with a hamstring injury earlier in the game. Every Chiefs fan, front office member, and coach on the sidelines immediately understood that Mahomes is back to square one with an aging Travis Kelce and the fastest player in the NFL with a history of drop issues.

Even if Rice can return quickly, even possibly after the bye in Week 6, it would appear that Reid and Mahomes are in desperate need of a better receiver or a receiving room that can step up to the plate as soon as possible. Cyrus Allen, Jalen Royals, and Emmett Johnson have the benefit of being "new" to the famously complicated playbook in Reid's hands, but that excuse cannot and will not fly now that Thornton is out for an extended period.

Until Hill returns to the Chiefs, as if they haven't been teasing it for weeks already, or until Kansas City can bring in someone to take over as a real WR1 or at least a reliable WR2, the younger guys are going to have to step up.

Not only that, Xavier Worthy is out of time and running Chiefs Kingdom out of patience waiting for his ascension. Granted, Worthy did have one of his better games against Vegas, when he hauled in four catches on seven targets for 70 yards, the fourth-highest total of his career, although 41 of those yards (58.5%) came on one play in the first quarter.

Worthy has to step up and become more than a gadget player. He needs to step up in place of Thornton, who was only the deep threat for Mahomes because Worthy has not been able to be yet. Now's the time.

Kingsley Suamataia needs to step up apparently...

It was the story of the day for Chiefs fans expecting to see another good showing by the offensive line. Instead, they saw Mahomes get hit eight times—five times by Maxx Crosby.

It's still unclear why Reid and Eric Bieniemy benched the third-year tackle out of BYU, but his replacement, Mike Caliendo, did not have a good day in his spot, allowing one of the two big sacks for the Raiders.

If PFF rankings are your metric, Caliendo had the fourth-worst ranking when it came to pass blocking, ahead of Jaylon Moore, whose excuse is that he had to play against Crosby for three hours.

Whatever Suamataia did to upset Reid and the coaching staff, it is hopefully a non-issue by the time Los Angeles shows up to Arrowhead in two weeks. If not, the Chiefs' $500 million man coming off serious leg surgery is going to be in danger all day once again.

Honorable Mention: Dave Toub

The only reason the special teams coach is not on the "step up" list for, essentially, the third week in a row is because it was special teams that ended up solidifying the victory. The peanut punch by Jeffrey Bassa led to the Chiefs' second touchdown in 25 seconds, helping them gain the double-digit lead late in the fourth.

Not only that, the decision to fake the punt early in the game set the tone for the entirety of the matchup. Even though it didn't lead to any points, it showed that Matt Araiza and Toub have confidence in the fake if they might need it in a bigger game.

With all that said, the special teams unit had been penalized nine times (accepted) heading into Vegas, which was only one behind Houston for the worst in the league. They added three on Sunday, including two illegal formation penalties that simply show a lack of discipline or practice on Toub's part.

Another reason that Toub technically avoided the list this week is that those two calls led to the fake punt for a first down and led to Las Vegas taking points off the board and Kansas City's defense keeping them off the board.

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