Four loud statements made by Kansas City Chiefs on an international stage

Chiefs still shoot themselves in the foot

While there were a lot of good things to come out of Sunday morning's game, it was also clear that the Chiefs won't stop shooting themselves in the foot. Win or lose (and it's mostly win), K.C. has a bad habit of getting in its own way when the path to victory is wide open.

On Sunday, the Chiefs were up 21-0 on the Dolphins halfway through the third quarter. They even forced the Dolphins to punt on their first drive coming out of halftime, even after Miami had considerable time to regroup and adjust to what the Chiefs were doing defensively to limit Tua Tagovailoa and company. Yet somehow the Dolphins were hang in it.

The best example of the Chiefs getting in their own way was Chris Jones's ridiculous penalty with a 14-point lead on a stalled drive by the Dolphins. The Chiefs held Tagovailoa from being able to move the chains enough for a first down on a long third-and-20 late in the third quarter. Suddenly, Jones decides he wants to be overly aggressive:

Just like that, the Fins were given a new set of downs and Raheem Mostert took the football on the very next play to make it a one-score game.

Minutes later, the Chiefs somehow were able to stop the Dolphins from being able to capitalize on another failed offensive drive and forced them to punt. The Fins punted the ball to the one-yard line where Mecole Hardman was back to field it—and he decided to return. It was a miracle that he didn't turn it over, and while no mistakes were made, it was another unnecessary risk.

Minutes later (getting the picture, yet?), the Chiefs have the ability to drive and end the game if they can just move the chains a few times. They're sitting on a third-and-1 and instead of just running it straightforward twice needing to go only three feet, Mahomes throws an incomplete pass and the Chiefs punt it away, giving the Dolphins some control of their own destiny with two minutes to go down seven points.

In the end, the Chiefs still came away with a victory but you've gotta think that won't be the case in January when it's one-and-done.

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