KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs trailed the Houston Texans 17-10 with just over six minutes remaining Sunday night. They had the ball at their own 35-yard line, and their chances of making the playoffs hinged on what would come next.
For nearly a decade, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs had come through in precisely this kind of dire situation.
This season hasn’t been like the rest.
Kareem Hunt was bottled up on first and second downs. Mahomes threw incomplete on third. Rather than punt and play defense on fourth down at their own 41, Chiefs coach Andy Reid elected to go for it, and Rashee Rice dropped an easy pass over that middle that would have given Kansas City a first down and kept its comeback hopes alive.
The Texans went on to add a field goal in the final minutes, giving them a 20-10 victory inside Arrowhead Stadium.
“We had chances,” Mahomes said afterward, “and we didn’t execute it.”
It didn’t help that the Chiefs were down to their fourth-string tackle with Josh Simmons on injured reserve, Jawaan Taylor inactive and Wanya Morris hurting his knee on the first play of the game. Or that top cornerback Trent McDuffie also hurt his knee.
But injuries are a part of the game, however fluky they might be.
Rather the Chiefs lost because of the same things that have troubled them all season: inopportune penalties, dropped passes, failed pass protections and blown coverages. In fact, the Chiefs had at least six dropped passes against Houston, including one by Travis Kelce in the closing minutes, right before Mahomes was picked off for the third time in the game.
“Listen, he’s a great player,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “but we have to make sure we catch the ball. It’s not for lack of effort out there. The ball went through their hands. It happens. But these guys are great players.”
Therein may lie the biggest reason for such disappointment among Kansas City fans this season: The Chiefs do have great players. Arguably just as good, top to bottom, as last year. But they went 15-2 and reached a third straight Super Bowl with that team, and unless they get a whole lot of help, they’ll be sitting out the playoffs entirely this season.
“We’re 6-7. We have four games left. We can finish the season 10-7 and we can have a shot at the playoffs if the cards fall right,” Kansas City defensive tackle Chris Jones said. “We control how we finish the season. We can finish the season strong.
“God willing,” Jones said, “we can find a way to get into the playoffs.”
The Chiefs defense has been quietly excellent for most of the season. It kept them in the fight against the Texans on Sunday night.
The draft board. It may be time to reassess some of the draft picks made by Chiefs general manager Brett Veach in recent years. The past three classes have been filled with too many misses to help support Kansas City’s aging core.
Jones has taken a lot of flack this season for a downturn in production and taking some plays off. But he showed as much fight as anyone against the Texans, bagging one sack, knocking down C.J. Stroud four times and even batting down a pass.
The Chiefs gave backup tight end Noah Gray a three-year, $18 million extension in September 2024, a deal they may regret. He had three targets on Sunday night and dropped two of them, and he has just 17 catches for 146 yard this season.
Morris could be out for awhile, which makes getting Taylor back from his triceps injury important. McDuffie spent the rest of the game standing on the sideline after hyperextending his knee Sunday night, so his injury appears to be less severe.
13 — The Chiefs have their worst record through 13 games since 2012, the year before Reid’s arrival, when they started 2-11.
The Chiefs play the Chargers on Sunday. They lost to them 27-21 in the opener on Sept. 5 in Brazil.
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