For my life, I can’t understand why the Kansas City Chiefs can’t make stops on defense. Had it not been for the magic of Quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the last minute of the game, the Chiefs could have lost. Yet, they were saved by a rookie kicker, and KC won 30-27 over the Carolina Panthers.
Honestly, I’m not sure what’s happened to the Kansas City Chiefs defense led by Steve Spagnuolo in the last two games. The secondary has betrayed him, who has not played well since the injury to Jaylen Watson against the San Francisco 49ers. Who knew that would be the guy that has sunk the Chiefs defense?
Over the last two games, the Chiefs defense has given up 30 points to the Bills and 27 to the Panthers. Even with a big lead, the defense gave up a pair of two-point conversations, making Panthers Quarterback Bryce Young an all-pro performer. He dissected the Chiefs defense all game, and Kansas City had no answers.
They blitzed him in the second half, and he beat it every attempt. He was sacked twice, and in the face of pending doom in the pocket, he threw dimes all over the field. His success in finding open receivers directly resulted from poor play by the secondary. When Trent McDuffie struggles, and he has since the Watson injury, nobody else has stepped up.
Everyone in the secondary had a bad game, and nobody made a pivotal play to thwart any of the Panthers touchdown drives. Spags won’t panic, and he has six games left to get his secondary on the same page for the postseason.
If I can suggest to KC’s defensive coordinator, I’d get rookie Jayden Hicks more involved at safety down the stretch. Bryan Cook and Justin Reid struggled today, and his speed could help the defense.
On offense, Mahomes made the big run to get the Chiefs into a position for the game-winning 30-yard field goal by rookie Spencer Schrader. Honestly, despite getting sacked five times and many penalties by the offensive line, Mahomes had a solid day. He had three touchdown passes, Noah Gray twice, and DeAndre Hopkins, and he appears to have shaken off some of the poor play earlier in the season.
With Left Tackle DJ Humphries slated to practice this week, it’s clear that Wanya Morris, knowing he could lose his job to the Pro Bowl signee, was abysmal in pass protection for the second straight week.
At some point, Andy Heck needs to be held accountable for the poor performance of this line this season.
With their tenth win of the season and a slim one-game lead in the AFC race, Kansas City has a short week to prepare for the Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday; I hope that’s not an Omen to shake off their shortcomings in Carolina.
We are nitpicking the defense, but hopefully, the return of pass rusher Charles Omenihu can help. Their glaring issue is their inability to rise to the occasion on third down. Over the last two years, the defense has carried the Chiefs’ offense; now, it appears those roles are reversed.
Kansas City will get Running Back Isiah Pacheco back, and Hollywood Brown will return in December, so offensively, if the Humphries can stabilize the left side of the line, it should take the pressure off the Chief’s defense.
Still, over the last three weeks, the Chiefs have been fortunate to sandwich Bill’s loss with last-minute wins against the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers.
Regardless, it’s a short week ahead, including Raiders Week!
