The Kansas City Chiefs were ready to move on from Week 7 before their game against the Seattle Seahawks was even over. The defending Super Bowl champs put on a clinic against the visitors in all three phases of the game, and now the formerly unbeaten Chiefs have a slew of pressing questions to answer in the wake of such a lopsided defeat.
One silver-ish lining coming out of the loss, however, is that head coach Andy Reid said there were no new injuries to report other than the fact that linebacker Nick Bolton had to work through some neck spasms in order to keep playing in the second half. Other than that, the Chiefs return home from Seattle with a clean bill of health, relatively speaking.
Good to have Bolton back
The neck spasms for Bolton surfaced when he tried to tackle Seahawks running back Emanuel Wilson with just over 11 minutes to go in the third quarter. Bolton was able to get up and walk but then went back down on one knee while trying to get off the field and was helped by Chiefs trainers. However, after one minute of game play on the sideline, Bolton was able to return to the field.
That's good news for the Chiefs because the team is very thin at linebacker. Bolton is the team's best performer in the second level and Drue Tranquill is another nice starter. However, behind both players are either severely limited veterans like Jack Cochrane or inexperienced prospects like Cooper McDonald, who just returned from injured reserve, or Jeffrey Bassa. Despite the lower ceiling, Cochrane is typically the name called on in such instances.
Injuries are still a concern for KC
While the Chiefs didn't have any serious new injuries to report after the game, the Chiefs are still dealing with major concerns at offensive tackle and wide receiver.
Left tackle Josh Simmons was just placed on injured reserve, which means he'll be out until at least Week 11 and even that feels like a stretch after he's already missed the year until now with a back injury. Right tackle Jaylon Moore is in the team's concussion protocol, so it's impossible to gauge a return date for him. That left Kahlil Benson and Josh Ezeudu to man the tackle spots for K.C. versus Seattle and the results weren't pretty.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs' wide receiver corps looked even worse with Rashee Rice nursing a hamstring injury. The Chiefs already lost Tyquan Thornton for the year with an ankle injury, which collapses the field without a respected vertical threat. Rice is a trusted volume target, and the offense was limited without him. Rice hasn't practiced once since the bye week, so his status will be a primary focus in the week ahead.
As a showdown in Denver looms against the 5-2 Broncos, the Chiefs are going to be looking for help—perhaps via a trade—at the areas decimated by injury. But at least the Chiefs don't have to attend to any new injury concerns, save for the complete loss of pride in Week 7.
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