The Kansas City Chiefs suffered their first loss of the season, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 19-13. A lot of things went wrong for the Chiefs today, but the team showed some life late in the game. Here are the week six Kansas City Chiefs takeaways.
Week Six Kansas City Chiefs Takeaways
The Ugly Game
Every year in the Andy Reid era, it seems like Kansas City lays a goose egg in at least one game. Today was one of those games.
The Chiefs offense mustered only six yards in the first half. Alex Smith was pressured, Kareem Hunt was stymied and Travis Kelce was dropping passes. On defense, Le’Veon Bell had 98 yards on by the first play of the second quarter, paving his way to a 179 yard day while his quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 252 yards.
The most frustrating aspect is that the Chiefs still had an opportunity to win the game despite being completely outplayed for the first three quarters. There were so many “what ifs” today – what if Demetrius Harris holds on for a touchdown on fourth down? What if Smith doesn’t overthrow two passes to Demarcus Robinson? What if Phillip Gaines intercepts or even bats away the tip drill touchdown to Antonio Brown? While Kansas City played their worst game of the season, they still had an opportunity to win at the end of the day.
Injuries Caught Up
Every week this season, the Chiefs have lost a significant player to injury. Through week six, Kansas City has lost Dee Ford, Chris Conley, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Mitch Morse among other players due to injury. During the week, wide receiver Albert Wilson suffered a knee injury, which forced him to the inactive list this week. In today’s game, the Chiefs lost Charcandrick West early and Tyreek Hill to potential concussions.
It is possible that the Chiefs will get their starting offensive lineman back this coming week, which would be a huge boost for the offense. It was apparent today that Kansas City needs their starting interior offensive line in tact, as Smith was facing a collapsed pocket numerous times today.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Hill does not have a concussion, which is great news for Kansas City. With it being a short week, any player in the concussion protocol is unlikely to play Thursday night. Having Hill against a suspect Oakland Raiders secondary will be huge for the Chiefs.
It’s Just One Game
If you look around the web, the sky is falling in Chiefs Kingdom. Take a deep breath and step back from the ledge.
Yes, the game was ugly. Yes, Andy Reid had some questionable calls. Yes, Alex Smith missed some open receivers down the field that could have changed the game. But the Chiefs are still 5-1 and coming off of two very physical games against the Washington Redskins and the Houston Texans. The Steelers played with their back against the wall, Kansas City was punched in the mouth and still almost found a way to pull out a win.
It’s a short week and the Chiefs are getting ready to visit the reeling Oakland Raiders. Kansas City can make a lot of people forget this weeks loss with a strong showing on Thursday night.
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