Well Chiefs Fans, that was a doozy. 3 points in the 2nd half won’t cut in in the NFL. Hard Stop. Matt Ryan played like a below-average QB who threw for 222 yards and was sacked 5 times. Chris Jones gets an F for the game-winning-drive-extending penalty. Mahomes wasn’t sharp. His receivers were adequate but not great. The run game was non-existent. Special teams were an abortion. But despite all that, it came down to one 1-play at the end that culminated in a 3-point loss.
Let’s start with special teams’ miscues. Any talk of Skyy Moore being ROY should stop immediately. Any talk of Pacheco gaining 1000 yards should stop immediately. Both demonstrated extremely poor judgment on special teams. Pacheco has got to learn that touchbacks are his friend, especially when the clock is your enemy. He took out 2 kickoffs from the end zone for no reason. Skyy Moore looked uncomfortable catching punts, and immediate work is needed by Dave Toub on coaching him up.
Matt Ammendola was a rental player, and the rental was a lemon. It would have been better over the last 2 weeks just to have used Justin Reid as needed, go for 2 more often, and operate under the M.O. of go for it on 4th and anything. We will see who Veach brings in for the next 2 games but lower your expectations as fans.
The Offense was not great. It all starts & stops with Patrick, and he wasn’t sharp. His receivers weren’t sharp, and the run game was absent. It’s not like the Colts played lockdown defense, but the Chiefs again could not adapt to what was being given. JuJu showed flashes of 2018 when he had 1400 yards with a 5-catch 89-yard day. CEH looked, pedestrian. Orlando Brown looked terrible. Andrew Wylie was getting beat all day. Regarding the Bienemy/Mahomes Tiff- The discussion is long overdue, but what is the future of Eric Bienemy? Clearly, there is a rift, and I can assume if Patrick wants him gone he’d be gone. I say better now than later. At least relegate Bienemy to the press box without a headset. Nagy and Reid can call plays. Despite all this, all the Chiefs had to do was execute one long TD drive in the 3rd or 4th quarter, and this would have been a road win.
The Defense played well. They got to an aging past his prime QB with regularity, and the Colts offense did nothing all day. Jon Taylor had 21 carries for 71 yards- a meager 3.4ypc that you will take all day in the modern NFL. Matt Ryan fumbled twice- losing one and cost his team major yardage on the other. Carlos Dunlap and George Karlaftis looked good out there. Khalen Saunders came out of nowhere to have the game of his life, and the LB Corp played physical fundamental football. Regarding Chris Jones, you must take the good with the bad.
Yes, it was a stupid and costly penalty. He sacked a slow, aging quarterback in Matt Ryan and killed their drive- why run your mouth? At this point, it doesn’t matter. The Chiefs had more opportunities to stop the Colts in the subsequent plays and did not get it done.
With Tampa on the horizon, the Chiefs have a lot to work on. Tampa plays stout defense, but their offense is in shambles with injuries at every level. The Chiefs will be bracing for a possible site change with Hurricane Ian rolling in from the Gulf. KC will also be breaking in a new Kicker. Luckily, KC got out of Indy with no reportable injuries. The early line gives the Chiefs a slight edge on the road (-2.5 O/U 45). The Chiefs must figure out the drops, and the special team errors, and hope this defense keeps them in the game.
Game Prediction: Tampa 22, Chiefs 20. Play the under.
