On Monday afternoon, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid answered questions from reporters after Sunday’s 28-24 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 8. The game featured a fourth-quarter lead blown and an AFC West lead relinquished, all coming down to a final fourth-and-goal stop by Denver’s defense.
Reid opened the video call by acknowledging how often the Chiefs shot themselves in the foot.
“When we’re stuck, we usually have something we’ve inflicted on ourselves that’s holding us back,” Reid reflected in his opening remarks. “It’s not what it is [Denver] made. Then, defensively, we did really well until three quarters, then the fourth quarter, we had missed tackles, we slipped in a case in one spot, and so, we didn’t make a tackle and we were tied there with their drive on the long field.”
The lack of this play by linebacker Nick Bolton came to mind when Reid mentioned a defensive player who slipped over the middle.
However, this game has more nonsense. Reid explained what went wrong with a 54-yard field goal that was pushed wide and missed with about two and a half minutes left.
“I can see what he saw there until he went up to the right, but I can also see why he went to the right,” Reid said. “We never talk about the protection on that and the overloads, but when you have a heavy overload on the left side and penetration there, that’s going to change a kicker; that’s just what you do as a kicker.
“It’s no different than what quarterbacks do when they throw the football, so sometimes, you have to change the alignment there, so I understand, he just got a little wider here, but we’ve got to do a better job of protecting him there.”
When asked a follow-up question clarifying that Reid was implying that Butker would see his kick blocked if not adjusted to the right, the head coach confirmed that his belief.
It wasn’t Butker’s efforts or the decision to kick that ruined the chance to go up six points late in the game, it was the kick protection!
However, there may not be a more frustrating play on second look than the team’s third-and-goal run from the one-yard line that was stuffed. Running back Kenneth Walker received the handoff and was immediately met by defenders.
“That was one of our self-inflicted wounds there,” Reid recalled. “We didn’t block it on the right side there; we had to make sure we got our assignment right.”
The biggest point of contention for journalists like Sam McDowell of The Kansas City Star is the Chiefs’ lack of threat to run the quarterback sneak. He asked Reid about that, because you could see on the replay, Denver had no body in the strong-side A-gap and was vulnerable on a sneak.
Still, Reid doesn’t see a problem with the Broncos’ lack of respect for the sneak call.
“Other than that, we’ve been pretty successful without falling short over time here,” Reid added.
Nothing feels more self-inflicted in the Chiefs’ offense than allowing a freak play from seven years ago to dictate play-calling in short yardage. In an era of “Tush Push,” the Chiefs gradually moved away from even lining up a tight end under the middle and sneakily.
Back-up quarterback Justin Fields is a run threat and hasn’t seen the field once this season. The wrinkle may be yet to come, but there is no wrinkle on third-and-goal in Denver.
After a series of fourth-quarter mistakes, Kansas City beat itself as the Broncos did on Sunday, and it remains to be seen how much the team will adjust its strategies based on what Denver and the Seattle Seahawks have exposed over the past two weeks.