The Kansas City Chiefs started out the 2025 NFL season with a rough patch, but they quickly rebounded with two dominant wins against the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens. They went back to their losing ways in Week 5, however, against a surprising Jacksonville Jaguars team.
While Patrick Mahomes' back-breaking pick-six to Devin Lloyd certainly hurt the team, and the defense did not come up with the big stop that they needed at the end, it's hard for fans to put their fingers on exactly what the issue is with the Chiefs in their current state.
To make matters worse, they sit at 2-3 with only one obvious win on their schedule in the next six weeks. Andy Reid and Co. have to figure things out fast before the season slips away from them, but luckily, the veteran head coach had a stern message for his team following the 31-28 loss.
Andy Reid implores his Chiefs team to quit with all the penalties
Reid spoke with the media following the Monday Night Football loss, and Chiefs reporter Harold R. Kuntz collected this quote from the three-time Super Bowl champion about the team's penalty issues.
"We had 13 penalties, to their 4. Whether I agree with them or don't agree with them, it doesn't matter. They called them," Reid said. "So, you have that many penalties, you give up field position, you can out-stat them to death, but that doesn't matter. It's the score that matters."
It's true what Reid said: Kansas City absolutely dominated Jacksonville in the box score. They had 476 total yards compared to the Jaguars' 319, they had 26 first downs compared to their opponents' 21, and they had more time of possession and fewer turnovers than Jacksonville as well.
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But the key difference was the Chiefs' 13 penalties for 109 yards, whereas the Jaguars were only flagged four times for 25 yards. Kansas City gifted Jacksonville four first downs via penalty, and the Chiefs were flagged a whopping seven times in the fourth quarter alone.
They had two delay of game calls, Chamarri Conner couldn't keep his hands off the Jaguars' wide receivers, and Harrison Butker had a kickoff go out of bounds. Jack Cochrane also killed the team with two special teams penalties, one which negated a long return, and another that pinned the team deep in their own territory on their final desperation drive.
While the Chiefs have certainly gotten a lot of flak over the years for being the NFL's darlings and being the beneficiary of every important call, the tables have turned a bit this year. They are one of the most penalized teams in the league, being whistled for 8.4 penalties per game.
The Chiefs better heed the words of their head coach and respond to him calling them out for being undisciplined. Only then can this team return to the heights that they have been at for the last decade and get out of the shell they've been in so far in 2025.