Kansas City Chiefs: Rapid Reaction Vs Tennessee Titans
By Ben Almquist
The Kansas City Chiefs string of close calls finally blew up in their face as they dropped a game to the Titans on a last second field goal.
After knocking off three straight tough opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Titans on a last second field goal. The Chiefs managed to squander an early 14 point lead that came on the first two drives of the game. Kansas City also failed to capitalize on a three turnover performance by the defense.
If you’re looking to assign blame for this game, there is more than enough to go around. A bad interception by Alex Smith. Questionable play calling by Andy Reid. Poor blocking by the offensive line. Bad drops by wide receivers. Questionable defensive effort in the secondary. Plus a pass rush that might as well not have even come to the game today.
It’s not as though the Titans showed up and put on a strong performance. The Chiefs just continuously shot themselves in the foot. There were so many moments when Kansas City could have put this game out of reach but simply didn’t do it.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
| Chiefs | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Titans | 0 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 19 |
Have To Make Those Plays
The Chiefs first squandered opportunity came with a goal line attempt. Kansas City’s offensive line couldn’t move the Titans on 3rd or 4th down, and failed to gain the one yard needed. Simply put, when it was time to play big boy football, the big boys on the roster came up short. That is a situation where the Chiefs shouldn’t even leave any doubt who the better team is.
Up next was another goal line shot where Alex Smith threw a terrible interception in the endzone. Easy enough to blame Smith on this one, but I have a problem with the play call. Neither Travis Kelce or Demetrius Harris were running routes into the endzone. That’s just a terrible design in that situation.
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The Chiefs would later fail to pick up a 3rd and 1 that would have closed out the game. Again, there was no push from the offensive line and Alex Smith ran right into three defenders. That failure was compounded on the follow up drive when the Titans rolled down to the 35 to set up a game winning field goal for Ryan Succop. While the kick will be remembered, I’m going to harp on the play that set it up. Safety Ron Parker stood by and watched Delanie Walker pick up a few extra yards after a catch. You can’t let that happen.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The Kansas City Chiefs have not yet clinched their spot in the playoffs. With a desperate Denver Broncos team visiting next week, that is a bit concerning. However, the Chiefs do just need one more win to get in. So far this year, KC has answered every single loss with an impressive win. So there is some silver lining there.
The Chiefs will now sit back and wait to see if the Chargers can hold off the Oakland Raiders. If that works out, KC will still hold the AFC West. If not, there won’t be many opportunities for the Chiefs to regain the division lead.
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The Kansas City Chiefs are still among the best teams in the NFL. This was a bad loss, but really it should have been a huge win. At some point this year, the Chiefs are going to have to put their foot on the accelerator and leave it there. No more of this doing just enough to win. It’s time for the Chiefs to show what they can do.