Chiefs Rewind: KC Utterly Embarrassed By Bills

Embarrassing. That was the main word or theme that resonated in the Kansas City Chiefs locker room after Sunday’s home loss to the Buffalo Bills. The top AFC contender for their two time AFC title came into their stadium and made it look easy. Moreover, the issues are major for Kansas City on both sides of the ball.

We will list some of those today among the top five things that we learned. Can the team bounce back to get to .500 this upcoming week? The Chiefs next three games are highly winnable. But, critical adjustments have to be made.

Additionally, what player’s stocks are rising or falling after this contest against Buffalo? We will list both winners and losers on the Kansas City roster following Week Five. Let’s kick it off.

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Top Five Things We Learned

The Championship Swagger Is Gone

The issues on defense, like bad tackling, giving up plenty of explosive plays and allowing a high amount of yards have generally been there for this Kansas City defense in recent years. Patrick Mahomes and his offense were able to mask that so much the last couple of years. The Chiefs won some games that they should not have. It is no secret that luck can be on your side. And while this team has had their fair share of bad luck early on, the confidence is completely shot.

Mahomes, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce have been able to defeat all odds to put up monster yardage and points in the past. Now, those attempts on crucial downs do not involve that same kind of juice. The offense has been frustrated from time to time. Defensively, this group has tightened up in the red zone or in short yardage situations. The Chiefs defense has been lost even before they reach those points. The second guessing on each side, along with the missed execution, led to drastic failures on Sunday night.

This Defense Is Not Going To Get Better

We have touched on it briefly the last couple of weeks. General manager Brett Veach must blow this defense up in the upcoming offseason. Right now, the Chiefs are simply not talented enough defensively to be reliable. Their defenders from the Super Bowl appearances are considerably older, slower and less durable now. The mistakes have been there in the past. But currently, this group is not making the splash plays to impact a game, or turn it on its head.

Kansas City was able to get by in the past, because there was still a sense of cohesion across the board. That is completely absent. The secondary is not in sync and working together. Linebackers are missing landmarks on the field more than they were beforehand. Finally, the defensive line is not living up to expectations. The big plays have not resulted often enough from Chris Jones (when healthy). Jarran Reed is not playing near the level we saw him at in Seattle. Frank Clark is not generating tackles, let alone sacks or pressures. They must get younger, more athletic and create cap space to fix this defense after the season.

Mahomes, Offense Must Adjust

Mahomes mentioned after the game that he has to reassess what is working and what is not working offensively. This Chiefs unit may not have the full confidence like they have in recent years, as mentioned above. What is even more concerning? The lack of adjustments and play designs we have seen from an instinctual offense led by Andy Reid.

Ever since last year’s Super Bowl, teams have mixed looks and have largely taken away the deep ball. Mahomes did miss some throws Sunday night down the field. Elsewhere, he was not willing to take shots in between defenders. Add in the fact that your running game is not a scary enough aspect every week, and this offense has little options when attacking right now. If they do not take the underneath stuff that is given to them, or balance it out with methodical drives, Kansas City will be stuck in neutral offensively. Increasing their options for attacking opponents will be a goal moving forward.

Turnovers Continue To Crush Chiefs

This is yet another area where Kansas City just cannot seem to get out of their own way right now. Offensively, the Chiefs have now turned the ball over 11 times in the last 13 quarters. Buffalo won the turnover differential at +4 on Sunday night.

Mahomes threw two interceptions total. One resulted in a pick six that should have been caught by Hill. It hit him right in the hands. Meanwhile, his other picked off pass was in harm’s way, as Gregory Rousseau’s length on the edge was too much to get around. Another fumble occurred late on a snap to add on to the already disappointing night. And lastly, Byron Pringle’s fumble on the kick return was after a tremendous hit by Buffalo’s special teams player. It feels like you have to hold your breath any time the Chiefs go to return a kick.

Is This A Wild Card Team?

Because of this loss, the Chiefs are still in last place in the AFC West entering Week Six at 2-3. The Broncos and Raiders have each lost two straight games. That definitely helps moving forward. However, the Chargers look nearly unstoppable at the top of the division. The rest of the AFC is contested by other red hot teams (i.e. Bills, Ravens, Browns, Titans).

The next three games are very winnable for the Chiefs on paper. And if there is a silver lining, Kansas City was 6-4 at one point in 2019 before hoisting the Lombardi Trophy that year. There may be too many problems, though. If the Chiefs and the rest of the AFC continue their respective trends, then this is a Wild Card team at best. Mahomes and Co. are certainly capable of frightening opponents in their own stadium in January. Nonetheless, this team has to get better first and reach the playoffs before we can think about that. Kansas City is nowhere near that mark at this moment.

Report Cards

Winners

Mecole Hardman

We have been waiting to see Mecole Hardman emerge this season. It was not necessarily his best career game on Sunday night. Although, he led the team in receiving yards (76) on nine catches. It was a productive day for Hardman, as he moved the chains continually and showed more willingness to go and attack some balls while they were in the air. That was unlike most of the rest of the Chiefs pass catchers against the Bills, which is a rarity.

Rashad Fenton

Defensively, it was horrendous for Kansas City. There is no doubt that all defenders need to improve. One bright spot in the secondary? Rashad Fenton was making plays on the football and had some of the tightest coverage throughout the night. He allowed some completions, of course. But when the team actually got off the field, Fenton was leading the way among the defensive backs.

Nick Bolton

Nick Bolton still has a ways to go when defending the pass. Yet, part of the second half stops Kansas City had were due to the play of Bolton. He continues to show no hesitation when working downhill against the run. If he has missed any tackles, I do not remember them. His form and confidence in the tackle attempts are a welcomed addition to the second level of the defense.

Losers

Daniel Sorensen

Not once, but twice safety Daniel Sorensen was completely lost in coverage and gave up monster plays. Stefon Diggs could have scored on a deep pass over the middle, if not for hesitation after the catch. On the other play, Sorensen failed to show eye and feet discipline. Allen fired a line drive bullet to tight end Dawson Knox for a touchdown. He also has the most missed tackles in the NFL on the season (12). A few more were added to the total on Sunday night against the Bills rushing attack. We have seen limitations from Sorensen before. But the problems have become too drastic at this point.

Patrick Mahomes

The same uncomfortable look from Mahomes in the last home game resonated again when facing the Bills. He failed to find open players throughout some of his progressions. There were short passes that felt forced, or were only there due to frustration of having to work underneath. Looking back to some crucial moments against Buffalo, Mahomes appeared to be the most unsure of himself that we have possibly ever seen. How will he adjust going forward?

Tyreek Hill

Sure, Hill caught seven passes for 63 yards. It did not look like the same player we are used to seeing, however. His hands could not secure the catch on multiple occasions. There was a feeling of pause when having the ball in space. To boot, Hill became fixated on wanting to win on crossing routes. This did not fool the Bills defense whatsoever.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire

Luck just cannot stay on Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s side. After two tremendous games of rushing the football, the LSU product got crunched in a massive pile. He hurt his knee and it was revealed on Monday that CEH suffered an MCL sprain. The team placed him on injured reserve Tuesday, meaning he will miss at least the next three weeks.

This was extremely similar to last year. As Edwards-Helaire was beginning to find his footing late last season, he took an awkward hit and got injured in New Orleans. Now after two strong showings, he will miss a considerable amount of time. Darrel Williams and Jerick McKinnon must now carry the load at running back.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.