On Monday afternoon, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took questions from reporters after the 28-24 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Week 8. The game featured a fourth-quarter lead blown and an AFC West lead relinquished, everything coming down to a final fourth-and-goal stop by Denver’s defense.
Reid opened the video call by acknowledging how often the Chiefs shot themselves in the foot.
“When we stalled, we normally had something that was self-inflicted that stalled us,” Reid reflected
during his opening statement. “Not necessarily what [Denver] did. Then, defensively, we really did a nice job up through the three quarters, then the fourth quarter, had some missed tackles, we slipped in one case in a spot, and thus, couldn’t make the tackle and put us in a bind there with them driving the long field.”
This lack of a play by linebacker Nick Bolton came to mind when Reid mentioned a defensive player slipping over the middle.
However, this game had more follies. Reid explained what went wrong on the 54-yard field goal that was pushed to the right and missed with roughly two-and-a-half minutes to go.
“I could kind of see what he saw on that as far as he went up going too far right, but I see why he went right, too,” Reid said. “We never talk about the protection on that and the overloads, but when you have a heavy overload on the left side and penetration there, that’s going to alter a kicker; that’s just what you do as a kicker.
“It’s no different than what quarterbacks do when they’re throwing the football, so sometimes, you have to alter the alignment there, so I get it, he just went a little bit too wide on it, but we have to do a better job of the protection for him there.”
When asked a follow-up question clarifying that Reid was implying Butker would have seen his kick blocked if not adjusted to the right, the head coach confirmed that was his belief.
It wasn’t Butker’s struggles nor the decision to kick that doomed the chance to go up six points late in the game, it was the blown protection!
However, there may be no more frustrating play on second look than the team’s third-and-goal run from the one-yard line that was stuffed. Running back Kenneth Walker received the handoff and was immediately met by defenders.
“That was one of our self-inflicted wounds there,” Reid remembered. “We didn’t block it right on the right side there; we have to make sure we get our assignment right.”
The biggest point of contention for reporters like Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star is the lack of a threat the Chiefs pose to run a quarterback sneak. He asked Reid about that, because as you can see from the replay, Denver had no bodies in the strong-side A-gap and was vulnerable to a sneak.
Still, Reid doesn’t see the problem in the Broncos’ lack of respect for the sneak call.
“Other than that, we’ve been pretty successful without sneaking it over time here,” Reid added.
Nothing feels as self-inflicted with the Chiefs’ offense as letting a freak play from seven years ago dictate play-calling in short yardage. In an era of the “Tush Push,” the Chiefs have dwindled away from even lining up a tight end under center and sneaking it that way.
Backup quarterback Justin Fields is a run threat and has not seen the field once this season. The wrinkle could still be coming, but there was no wrinkle on third-and-goal in Denver.
After a series of fourth-quarter errors, Kansas City beat itself as much as the Broncos did on Sunday, and it remains to be seen how much the team will adjust its strategies based on what Denver and the Seattle Seahawks exposed over the last two weeks.
