The Kansas City Chiefs were once one of the best teams in the NFL. Having come out of the gate piping hot in 2019 after a successful 2018 campaign, the Chiefs have come down to Earth, magnified by their loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Currently just ahead of the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West division while still in first place despite a recent skid, the Chiefs' latest loss came at the hands of the middling Tennessee Titans. While losing yet again certainly raises some concerns in Kansas City, it was more of the way that the Chiefs lost to the Titans in Week 10 that has raised the most eyebrows.
For starters, the Chiefs defense couldn't contain a typically dismal Titans offense led by former Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who started the year as Marcus Mariota's backup in Tennessee. Granted the Chiefs gave up a touchdown to the Titans defense on a scoop and score in the first half, Tennessee still managed to hang a whopping 35 points on Kansas City in Sunday afternoon's loss in Nashville.
If the Chiefs are going to impress down the stretch, the team's defense is going to have to step up in a big way. With the Chiefs offense possessing the ability to score quickly and in bunches, all the defense has to do is get a few stops here and there in order to remain ahead. Even so, it remains to be seen as to whether this can even be done at this stage.
Not only was the Chiefs defense as porous as can be in Week 10, especially in the second half, but the team's special teams unit wasn't much better. In addition to Kansas City missing an extra point early on in the game, the Chiefs infamously had the potential game-winning field goal blocked as time expired in regulation with the Titans getting the victory by the score of 35-32. Adding to this disappointing ending, it appeared as though the Chiefs used the same exact cadence throughout the forgetable contest, which ultimately allowed Tennessee to perfectly time the snap count at the end of the game. As a result of this blunder, the final field goal attempt of the afternoon didn't even make it to the line of scrimmage.
The Chiefs are now 6-4 and have loss back-to-back games. Of course, only one of those two outings came with last year's MVP and Chiefs quarterback Mahomes under center, which makes things at least a little better for Kansas City. Nonetheless, this team is definitely beatable and may not cause as much noise in the AFC as initially expected this time around. Because of the glaring weaknesses outside of the offense, the Chiefs will need to sneak into the postseason just like every other team not named the New England Patriots or Baltimore Ravens so it seems.
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