3 Chiefs on Thin Ice After Wild Week 7 Win vs. Chargers

Kansas City utilized a dominant second half to pull away from the Chargers yesterday and win 31-17 for the Chiefs' 13th consecutive AFC West victory.

While Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce's historic connection is the main takeaway, some sloppy play in the first half kept the game close. Joshua Kelley ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run and Joshua Palmer finished with 133 yards, so not all was peachy.

Three players, in particular, struggled mightily and find themselves on thin ice headed to Denver for a Week 8 rematch.

3 Chiefs on Thin Ice After Week 7 Win vs. Chargers

1. Kadarius Toney

I firmly believed that reacquiring Mecole Hardman would eat into Skyy Moore's snaps and not Toney's, but that theory looks foolish through one game.

Toney played just 19% of snaps, his second-lowest total of the season, while Moore played 60%. The former first-round pick managed just one catch on one target for 13 yards, playing only two more offensive snaps than Hardman despite the latter just getting to town a few days ago.

It's worth noting that this touchdown pass to Kelce easily could have gone to Toney as well, but his involvement was discouraging considering he was targeted six times in each of his previous two games.

Rashee Rice continues to look like Kansas City's best receiver and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had his best game of the season. If Toney is behind those two AND falls behind Moore with Hardman eating into his gadget plays, the draft capital the Chiefs surrendered to bring Toney in will quickly look like an overpay.

Perhaps the worst indicator? Even Justyn Ross managed 25% of the snaps. Toney was fifth on the pecking order and needs to find ways to get involved against the Broncos in Week 8.

I'm still optimistic about Toney's role in the offense, but yesterday was a discouraging sign moving forward.

While Toney can still produce for the Chiefs, this other former first-rounder should be on the first flight out of town.

2. Clyde Edwards-Helaire

It's downright impressive how much Edwards-Helaire can stall the offense in limited action. He played only seven snaps, but ask any Chiefs fan and they'll tell you it was seven snaps too many.

Edwards-Helaire had five yards on two carries and failed to corral his only target, though he still managed to stall drives and draw the ire of Chiefs Kingdom.

I hope we'll see Clyde phased out entirely in favor of Jerick McKinnon as the season progresses. In the meantime, he lacks the burst of Isiah Pacheco and the dependability of McKinnon while providing none of the big-play ability.

He's got 32 carries for 105 yards this season, averaging a pathetic 3.3 yards per attempt. With Pacheco at 4.2 yards per carry and even Mahomes at 6.5, it's more obvious each passing week that Edwards-Helaire is negatively impacting the team.

The defense has been so good that it hasn't mattered, but by the time the playoffs roll around, I'm praying we'll leave Clyde on the sideline.

This final Chief on thin ice plays every snap, though he's the clear weak link of the defense as it stands.

3. Justin Reid

For better or worse, Reid is one of the leaders of the defense and will be on the field virtually every snap. While he salvaged his day with some nice plays in the second half, Reid was brutal in the opening 30 minutes of the game.

Joshua Kelley's 49-yard score was made possible because Reid took a bad angle and he's been repeatedly targeted in pass coverage. Joshua Palmer and Gerald Everett both had nice days on Reid's watch in this game alone.

So far, he hasn't been worth the hefty contract the Chiefs gave him. That can change, obviously, and Reid makes enough splash plays to give you confidence he can figure it out. At the least, Reid's poor play hasn't been a huge issue for the defense overall.

Kansas City still fields perhaps the AFC's best defense. If Reid is the lone weak link, we're in pretty good shape.

That being said, I hope to see improvement for this team to reach its full potential.

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