As the Kansas City Chiefs took the field in Denver for their AFC West showdown on Sunday, the team once again surprised viewers with the news that starting left guard Kingsley Suamataia would not be in the starting lineup. As expected, there is zero explanation for the third-year lineman’s absence other than that it is personal between Reid and Suamataia. Unlike the Week 4 game in which the Chiefs escaped with a 30-27 victory over the Raiders, this game ended with the Chiefs on the losing end of a close one.
That’s not the worst of it.
The Chiefs left themselves without a key option
Driving with just seconds left in the game, the Chiefs needed a touchdown and, to their credit, were able to get inside the 5-yard line. Head coach Andy Reid had two timeouts in his back pocket and the entire playbook at his disposal. We all know what happened next, but my question here is: If Suamataia isn’t an option at this juncture in the game, why was he even active?
Running back Kenneth Walker has made a killing running off the left side of the line. The Chiefs didn’t even try it once in this sequence. Would they have if Suamataia were in the lineup? We’ll never know.
The inconsistency of Reid's decision-making
Here’s the fatal flaw in the team’s handling of Suamataia: If it’s so important to prove a point to one of your players that you sacrifice a chance to win the game, why did the team bother to sign free-agent kicker Justin Tucker, a former All-Pro whose misconduct allegations are well-known throughout the league? Which is it, Chiefs? Is winning everything, or not?
What the Chiefs tacitly admitted to us last week with the Tucker signing is that they do not care what you do off the field. They are looking for the best players available to help them win ball games. Otherwise, they would have pursued any one of a number of other available kickers. So how do they justify that transaction while simultaneously surprise-benching a clearly superior player just minutes before a crucial division game on the road, but keeping him active? What message is Reid sending to the franchise with these two scenarios?
The goal-line decisions deserve scrutiny
Every local radio show, website, and podcast should be unpacking the play-calling at the goal line this week. One option that should have been available could have been a surprise QB sneak. There would be no better way to exorcise the demon of Mahomes’ last sneak (all the way back in 2019) than to ram one in on the same field in walk-off fashion.
But I digress. The fact is, the Chiefs could have tried any number of things with their playbook, but they still had a starting offensive lineman in uniform on the sideline at the end of the game and didn’t even think to plug him in for a potential game-winning play.
The Chiefs need to decide what matters most
The inconsistency of these two scenarios reeks of hypocrisy, and Chiefs fans were the biggest losers in both this week. The Kansas City Chiefs should decide if they still think winning is everything and use their best players in critical situations.
Otherwise, they should commit to the high-and-mighty pedestal they've created for themselves, in which they are fine with benching a starting player in a pivotal game. While they’re at it, they should also reconsider their questionable transaction from last week.
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