That wasn’t fun. It was annoying.
I think the Kansas City Chiefs are clearly the better team than the Jacksonville Jaguars. They just weren’t the better team in this game.
The Chiefs squandered a 14-point
lead and then regained it with under two minutes remaining — only to lose on what has to be the most uncoordinated and awkward-looking game-winning touchdowns in the history of the sport.
Still, we should give credit to the Jaguars; they made a play when they had to, and winning ugly beats losing pretty any day of the week.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, they didn’t do either. They dropped their third game of the season, losing 31-28 on “Monday Night Football.”
Here are five things we learned.
1. Right now, special teams aren’t very special
This might have been the worst special teams performance I’ve seen in a game where the kicker didn’t miss a field goal.
However, Harrison Butker decided to take it a step further, kicking the ball out of bounds with under two minutes left to play when the Jaguars had only one timeout remaining. On top of that, the Chiefs committed so many holding penalties on kick returns that I had to double-check to make sure Jawaan Taylor wasn’t playing special teams.
At the end of the day, this performance falls squarely on special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
2. It’s hard to cover speed and mobility
Last week I wrote this:
The Chiefs rolled zone coverage against Nabers. This week, Spagnuolo put a linebacker spy on Jackson. It will be exciting to see what he draws up next week when Kansas City travels to Florida to face a sneaky Jacksonville Jaguars team.
Spagnuolo reverted back to the comfort zone that got them in trouble against the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles. It’s no secret that the Chiefs struggle to generate quick wins with their pass rush. To compensate, Spagnuolo decided to blitz the pants off the Jaguars. The problem? More often than not, the gamble didn’t pay off. The rushers failed to get home — and with their pants still firmly in place, Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence was able to find favorable matchups — which are inevitable when against a blitz.
That included blitzing the slot cornerback, which left safeties in one-on-one situations against a pair of elite athletes: Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter.
The problem wasn’t just schematic. Without the blitz, the Chiefs still couldn’t generate consistent pressure — and it was a lot easier to lock up Rashod Bateman and DeAndre Hopkins than Thomas and Hunter.
3. The Chiefs aren’t winning high-leverage situations
We’ve all seen the graphic on Chiefs broadcasts. Last season, the team went 11-0 in one-score games and set an NFL record by winning 17 straight one-score contests.
But nobody wins every single close game forever. It’s the Law of Averages, right?
False. The Law of Averages is a gambler’s fallacy.
While randomness exists in football (the ball bouncing the wrong way, for example), most outcomes are within a team’s control, and past results don’t influence future ones. Each play — like each coin flip — is an isolated event. So even if a coin lands on heads six times in a row, it’s still a 50 percent chance the next flip lands on heads.
What’s happening to the Chiefs in these close games isn’t bad luck; it’s bad performance in high-leverage moments.
In the past, Nick Bolton would have pushed Isaiah Likely out of the back of the end zone to prevent a touchdown. Now, Chamarri Conner gets flagged for pass interference in the end zone.
In the past, the Chiefs could move the ball from their own 20-yard line and set up a game-tying field goal in 13 seconds. Now, an excellent kick return gets wiped out by an inexcusable holding penalty — and Hollywood Brown fails to get his head around, letting the ball bounce off his shoulder pads.
The Chiefs aren’t stepping up and making plays when they have to. They’re standing there and watching as another win slips through their fingers.
4. There is no dominant team in the AFC
This is exactly what the NFL wanted: a league full of 9-8 teams, with games coming down to the wire and parity reigning supreme. The system is built to prevent dynasties — and for years, the Chiefs have found ways to thumb their nose at those efforts.
I’m still not ready to throw in the towel on this season. It’s safe to say this team isn’t winning 14 games, but it probably doesn’t have to. The AFC is filled with teams that are just good enough to beat anyone and just flawed enough to lose to anyone.
Whether because of injuries, inconsistency or underperformance, the conference is wide open — and it’ll likely stay that way until late December.
5. This version of the rushing attack might just work
Sure… Patrick Mahomes was still the team’s leading rusher in this game. But it didn’t feel like it was because the Chiefs couldn’t run the ball. For once, the ground game was effective.
Kansas City’s running backs combined for 15 carries and 89 yards — nearly six yards per attempt. You’ll take that any day of the week.
A big reason for that success was a more balanced usage of Kareem Hunt’s dependability, Isiah Pacheco’s burst, and the X-factor that rookie Brashard Smith brings. It wasn’t perfect, but it was progress — and that’s something to build on.
