The Kansas City Chiefs dropped their fourth game of the season to the Tennessee Titans last Sunday. It was a shocker as it has been a long time since the team has looked that bad.
Patrick Mahomes and Co. did not score a single touchdown, with the star quarterback (who was put into concussion protocol towards the latter part of the game) looked predictable on the field. Truly, it was a rare sight for NFL viewers.
Sunday’s game was the perfect embodiment of Kansas City's season so far: disappointment, lackluster offense and defense and no help for Mahomes or whatever.
With all that said, here are three of the most responsible factors that continue to hunt the Chiefs through Week 7.
Kansas City Chiefs' Major Factors In Losing Record
3. The Chiefs defense
The Chiefs’ defense has been abysmal throughout the season. They entered Week 7 ranked as the 31st in defensive DVOA. They’re especially bad against the pass and they’ve given up nearly a full touchdown more per game than they ever did over the past two seasons.
Their formula of elite offense and hopefully average defense isn’t seen at all this season because their defense continues to doom them late in games.
This four year draft stretch for the Chiefs seems to have finally caught up to them.
Got a few stars out of it but not much else, and very few actual difference makers on defense. The depth just isn’t there and now everyone is expensive and harder to build around (for cheap). pic.twitter.com/ZYizbOGnuj
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) October 24, 2021
The Chiefs' defense ranks 27th in points allowed. It is also 32nd in success rate and 32nd in EPA per drive. If this continues for Kansas City, their outstanding offense will just go to waste.
2. Offensive execution
Kansas’ overall offense can move the ball well, but they just can’t seem to finish drives. They currently have the leading worst turnover rate in the NFL, wasting all the opportunities that Mahomes has handed them. Having an elite offense is useless if you cannot finish a play.
It’ll only pressure Mahomes to do unordinary things like he did versus the Titans on Sunday. Mahomes himself told ESPN postgame that he and the team needs to be better when it comes to executing their offense.
“We kind of got down and we were in that kind of mode [of] no-huddle, which you don’t want to be in in the NFL. You can execute a little bit but it’s hard to sustain drives. I’ve just got to be better early in games so we don’t get behind like we did today. I have to be better in order for this offense to score points,” Mahomes shared.
1. The effect of being a powerhouse team over the past two seasons
The reason why Kansas City has been so disappointing is because they’ve been one of, if not the most excellent teams in the past two seasons. They don’t lose random games like they did in Week 7. The Chiefs know their offense is elite and they cannot bank on their defense to be just below average like it has over the past couple of seasons—frankly because this season’s defense is worse than it has been.
If they’re going to use the formula they did in the past two campaigns, then say goodbye to another Super Bowl appearance because the rest of the NFL has caught up.
Toughest Remaining Strength of Schedule
2021 SeasonTeam Opp Win Pct Opp Record
1. Chiefs .612 41-26
2. Panthers .591 39-27
3. Vikings .589 43-30
4. Browns .588 40-28
5. 49ers .568 42-32— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 27, 2021
Gone are the days when the Chiefs can just run over any team just because they got the best quarterback and offense in the league. They can no longer get into the habit of trailing games early because their roster this season won’t help them come back from early deficits anymore. If the Chiefs want to start winning games, they have to execute both their offense and defense better than ever.
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