There are just so many ways to lose an NFL football game. Sadly, on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs keep finding new ways to propitiate their 2023 season of frustration. After witnessing the most incredible play I’ve ever seen, another judgment cundecided the game’s outcome.
In losing 20-17 to the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs down 14, and did their best to close the gap in the second quarte. Btut more offensive miscues, including dropped passes, two turnovers and the offsides call on Kadarius Toney that negated his lateral from Travis Kelce on the Chiefs final drive that would have put Kansas City ahead 24-20, continue to handcuff this team from greatness.
We can be upset about the Toney gaffe, and yes, he was offsides by the length of his toenail, but on the very next snap Buffalo Bills pass rusher, Von Miller had his entire helmet offsides and no call. Either way, you l look at this game, we all tend to blame the officials, and I do to a certain degree. For the second week in a row with less than two minutes to play, critical calls were missed.
Still, the Chiefs should not have been in this position. The defense, outside of the Bill’s final drive in the fourth quarter, when Steve Spagnuolo played conservatively on the Bills long yardage situations.
On the slip side, Bills Head Coach, Sean McDermott and that was the difference in the game.
Enough with the excuses because that’s not going to turn this bitter loss into a win. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, who were salty about the officiating after the game, said their peace and will pay a hefty find from the NFL, they just need to get that out of their system.
So, what happens next?
If this loss doesn’t light the fire under every one of these players and coaches, the Chiefs will be one and done in the postseason. As it sits now, the Chiefs are still the #3 seed in the AFC, and hold the tiebreaker over the fourth-seeded Jaguars with similar 8-5 record. However, their lead in the AFC West is down to one game with the tiebreaker over the Denver Broncos, who have won six of their last seven.
Next Sunday, the Chiefs face the lowly New England Patriots, then back-to-back home games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals before ending the season in Los Angeles to face the Chargers.
I’m sure this loss will sting more than any other this season for Mahomes, but moving forward, can he deliver the goods with an underwhelming receiver group?
However, if his rant on the sidelines at the line judge and his obvious frutration post game actually engages his team, and coaches to be more accountable on the field, perhaps that could ignite a winning streak.
If it doesn’t, we’ll look back at a season that might have wasted the best defense this team has had since Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith were running havoc on teams.
Let’s hope that’s not the case.
