The Kansas City Chiefs are 5-5 after a second consecutive loss — a 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos — and there is no margin for error the rest of the season. Now the focus shifts to the Indianapolis Colts, who will travel to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
Here’s what I’ll be wondering as the Week 12 matchup gets underway.
1. Can the Chiefs establish an identity?
As I reflect on the season, it occurs to me that I have no idea about the Chiefs’ identity.
What is the team’s specialty? It isn’t a particularly dominant unit on either
side of the ball. The offense hasn’t produced consistently against real teams. While the defense is fine, it’s not one that you can really lean on.
So what is the Chiefs’ calling card against good teams? I have no answers.
This is an existential problem that reaches back to last year. While the team wasn’t particularly great on offense or defense, it was able to win enough close games to mitigate that. But when the Chiefs faced the Philadelphia Eagles — a team with a dominant defense and a strong running game — they were exposed.
When things got tough, they had no answers.
I felt the same way watching the games against Denver and the Buffalo Bills. The contests were close, but when it was crunch time, Kansas City couldn’t rely on either unit to win the game.
If that’s the case for the rest of the season, I don’t think you can call the Chiefs a Super Bowl team. In their three championship seasons, they had a clear identity. In 2019 and 2022, the team had a dominant offense. In 2023, the defense was outstanding.
The team needs to establish a playing style that can help them win games — and that has to start on Sunday against the Colts.
Can the offense solve its problems against a good defense? Can the defense become a unit that Kansas City can rely upon? Given the team’s roster, I suspect the offense will step up — but at this point, I’m not sure.
The Chiefs need to find their identity — and they need to find it fast.
2. What is the Chiefs’ plan to stop the run?
The Colts have a clear identity through their rushing attack. Running back Jonathan Taylor is having a fantastic season, leading all rushers with 1,139 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s on pace to earn over 1,900 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Taylor’s explosiveness in the open field is reminiscent of what Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley did last season. Once Taylor is past the second level, he can erase any angle and take it to the house. He’s also strong between the tackles and can churn out yards. Against the Atlanta Falcons, he was able to follow his blocks and keep pushing the pile forward.
So Kansas City’s No. 1 priority will be stopping him. The Colts’ run game is fairly diverse: they’ll run zone, but they also have a beefy offensive line they can use to run downhill runs like “Duo” — or pulling runs like “Counter” or “Power.” Taylor reads blocking well, and Indianapolis’s offensive line is good enough to create space for him to accelerate.
Even though they’re not great at it, the Chiefs will have to reset the line of scrimmage. Defensive tackle Chris Jones will have to play his best game of the season against the run. His attempts to backdoor runs might be difficult — because if he whiffs, Taylor can run for a touchdown.
Kansas City’s linebackers will also be facing their biggest test of the season. They simply cannot lose to blockers at the point of attack — because if Taylor finds space in the second level, he can take it the distance. On downhill runs, the linebackers must squeeze the space — but if Taylor starts to widen on zone blocks, they have to be able to cut him off at the edge.
Finally, the Chiefs’ safeties will have to take the correct angles. If they don’t, the team’s last line of defense will have failed.
3. Can the Chiefs beat man coverage?
Indianapolis recently acquired cornerback Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets — a trade that was made for games like this one. The Colts now have an elite outside cornerback they can trust in man coverage across from Charvarius Ward.
This matters because Kansas City’s receivers were exposed against the Broncos’ man coverage. They just weren’t able to get open downfield except for a few throws that fell incomplete. This was especially true for wide receiver Rashee Rice.
If I’m the Colts’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo — who has given the Chiefs problems before while running the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense — I’m incorporating man coverage into my game plan.
If that’s what Indianapolis does, will Rice have any answers? Can Kansas City get wide receiver Xavier Worthy open deep — and actually complete a downfield shot to him? Will the Chiefs be able to make crossing routes (or anything else over the middle of the field) work for them?
Until Kansas City’s receivers prove they can beat physical coverage, this is how good teams are going to defend them. Every remaining game will now be important — so the Chiefs’ receivers are going to have to improve quickly.
