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It was a frustrating day for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. A Week 3 trip to Indianapolis ended with many head-scratching mistakes and a maddening loss to the Colts. Overall, the Kansas City defense played well. It took a few perfect completions by Matt Ryan to lead Indianapolis scoring drives. Whereas with how they got those, the Chiefs made too many self-inflicted mistakes, gifting the Colts good field position, fresh chances and easy opportunities.
The Chiefs knew that the Colts would come out swinging. Coming off of two horrible showings, Indianapolis played tough and gritty, just as Kansas City believed they could. When things got tight, it was Indianapolis that rose to the occasion.
There were many items that you could point to, as to why the Chiefs lost this game. We will touch on more aspects in the Kansas City Chiefs stock report article, which will come out later today. But for this piece, we want to focus solely on the offensive mistakes made by Kansas City. Essentially, no one had a strong game on the offense. Here were the main reasons for the stagnant Chiefs offense on Sunday in Indianapolis. Let’s kick it off.
Mahomes And Company Not In Rhythm
Throughout the last two games, Patrick Mahomes and his pass catchers have not been in sync. The results against the Colts were arguably worse than it was against the Chargers, however. Mainly, Mahomes was forced to create more often than not. Sometimes this did work, as the Chiefs were able to get yards after the catch after Mahomes fit some balls into tight windows. Though, those were largely few and far between on Sunday.
If you look at the issues of being able to separate, the pass catchers look to be having a couple of problems in that regard. For one, Kansas City is seeing a lack of overall speed and any sort of downfield quickness by their wide receivers are getting matched or wiped out by defensive backs. You also have to look at the lack of situational awareness, especially on third downs. The Chiefs receivers were unable to create adequate spacing against the Indianapolis defense. This led to congestion in one area of the field from multiple pass catchers. On the other hand, the Chiefs were forced to take low percentage throws, as they could not get on top of the Colts secondary.
Mahomes looked pressured all day long. From his own mistakes, the Chiefs quarterback did look to hit on the big play far too often when it simply was not there. Kansas City attempted to hit on a deep shot early to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. This was actually a close attempt. In other occasions, the Chiefs were trying to get it all back in one big swing, so to speak, forcing the ball into coverage. Mahomes did utilize his checkdowns throughout parts of this game. Yet, it did not happen enough against Indianapolis.
Offensive Line Was Outworked
Another reason as to why Mahomes felt pressured, was because of the Chiefs offensive line. It was a day to forget for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. He was immediately beat at the snap far too much. When that occurred, Brown Jr. appeared to lose his balance many times. Elsewhere, the usually dependable Joe Thuney was unable to anchor consistently against the Colts interior defensive linemen. Andrew Wylie getting banged up did not help matters much, either.
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This Kansas City offensive line can be commanding when they want to. However, it felt like it was more of a fundamental problem against Indianapolis. The Chiefs were unable to maintain gap integrity. Whereas with their body positioning and angles, it felt like the blocking unit was unable to answer when the Colts defensive front looked to convert speed to power.
Poor Decision-Making
We already mentioned some of the deep passing that seemed forced at times. For the most part, there were many coaching decisions that left me scratching my head on Sunday. One that was not on the offense was the fake field goal attempt, if that was indeed called by the coaching staff. Offensively, the Chiefs were making mistakes that we had seen in the past during frustrating losses.
From the coaching side of things, Kansas City gave the Colts life on a few instances. The decision to pass on short yardage situations inside opponent’s territory was baffling. Especially when this game was late in the second half, it felt like the running game could have worked on second and short and even on first down inside the Indianapolis ten-yard line. Instead, the Chiefs tried to fit passes in when the field was condensed. Oddly enough, the short yardage plays worked on the ground. Michael Burton picked up a key first down on third and short. Clyde Edwards-Helaire pounded in a one-yard touchdown run after a passing attempt or two inside the Colts’ two-yard line.
As Andy Reid said after the game, the Chiefs offense needs to be put in position to find more rhythm. There were decisions in play calling that led to a smaller margin of error on each ensuing snap. Kansas City had moments to play it differently and instead gave the Colts momentum. Of course, the cameras caught an interesting exchange between Mahomes and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as well.
Ugly Showing Leads To Avalanche In Close Games
As mentioned in that last paragraph, the margin for error is so slim. That is not just true for most NFL games, but also with how this Chiefs team is constructed right now. Kansas City’s passing game is still ironing out many kinks. The rushing attack can be hit or miss week to week. Plus, there is plenty of youth on this newly built Chiefs squad. With how the defense battled, this offensive showing was even uglier than what the box score may indicate.
It is not like the Chiefs were running away with this one. Their blown lead was not as large as what last year’s AFC Championship Game was against the Bengals. Nevertheless, this offense must learn to finish strong. It definitely was not a fast start for the Chiefs in Indianapolis. Kansas City still ended with a horrible nosedive on offense in the second half when the opportunities were ripe to get things going and put the game away.
Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis 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.