Kansas City Chiefs slipping back into 2021 bad habits
Andy Reid’s team has won the AFC West for the seventh straight year. The Kansas City Chiefs could use a refresher course in ball security.
With last week’s 30-24 overtime win at Houston, the Kansas City Chiefs joined some rare NFL air. The team claimed its seventh consecutive AFC West title dating back to 2016. It’s only the third time in league annals that a club has won that many consecutive division crowns.
The New England Patriots won the AFC East for a mind-boggling 11 straight years from 2009-19. The Los Angeles Rams captured seven consecutive NFC West titles from 1973-79.
It’s been a struggle for head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a very talented team in recent weeks. The Chiefs fell at Cincinnati back in Week 13, 27-24. Seven days later at Denver, the club jumped out to a 27-0 advantage and wound up holding off the Broncos, 34-28. Last Sunday at Houston against the one-win Texans, the Chiefs needed overtime to come away with a 30-24 victory.
One of the reasons the team has not made it easy on themselves as of late has been the inability to take care of the football. In their first eight games in 2022, Reid’s club committed only nine turnovers. In their last six outings, the Chiefs have turned over the football a dozen times.
In four of those contests, Reid’s club gave up the pigskin multiple times. In their past two aforementioned wins over the Broncos and Texans (the latter in overtime), the club first survived three Mahomes interceptions at Denver and a pair of lost fumbles by Isiah Pacheco and JuJu Smith-Schuster at Houston.
Do the math. Suddenly, the Chiefs have 21 turnovers in 14 contests this season. Only the Colts (27), Texans (23), and Saints (22) have given up the football more often in 2022. The club seems to be headed in the wrong direction when it comes to taking care of the ball. A year ago, the Chiefs were near the bottom of the league with 25 turnovers.
The AFC West champs finish the regular season with home games vs. the Seahawks and Broncos and then travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders. No doubt Reid would like to see his Chiefs a little less loose when it comes to holding onto the rock. Success in the postseason could certainly depend on it.