Chiefs drop third-straight game to Bengals in tight 27-24 loss
Breaking down all the angles following the Chiefs' 27-24 loss to the Bengals on Sunday afternoon
The Kansas City Chiefs (9-3) were defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals (8-4) by a score of 27-24 Sunday afternoon at Paycor Stadium.
Patrick Mahomes threw for his least yardage of the season, Travis Kelce had a costly fumble late in the game, and the Chiefs defense struggled to come up with stops. Despite talking a big game throughout the week, the Chiefs lacked some intensity and dropped a third straight game to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
Here are Kent, Craig, and Matty’s thoughts on Sunday’s win over the Rams:
NFL rosters tend to be pretty fluid year to year. The league’s unofficial motto is “Not For Long”. The Chiefs moved on from Tyreek Hill and used the draft capital to change the complexion of the roster to get younger, more athletic, more physical, and cheaper.
Rookies Trent McDuffie, George Karlaftis, Skyy Moore, Joshua Williams, and Isiah Pacheco feature heavily in the Chiefs’ weekly performance. Leo Chenal, Jaylen Watson, and Bryan Cook have all found roles on special teams and on defense.
It’s not fair to say that this season will go as far as the rookie class will take it, but the growth and development of this group factors in big to this team’s ability to find success late in the season. The roster construction necessitates it.
In Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, the rookie class held their end of the bargain.
Trent McDuffie was probably the best defensive player for the Chiefs on Sunday. Joshua Williams held his own against a talented group of receivers, was physical, tackled well. Karlaftis at least played with a consistent motor. The best effort on that side of the ball was given by the rookies on the field.
Isaiah Pacheco was a bright spot on the offensive side of the ball. He is playing well and getting more comfortable as the opportunities come.
The rookies don’t have the bad blood experience of losing two games at the hands of the Bengals. They were all prepping for bowl games or the Draft — waiting to find out who they’d play for.
Players that were here last year didn’t play with the kind of effort and intensity that was required to win a big game like this. Tackling was as poor as it’s been all season — and that’s saying something. Simple execution was costly at times. The pass rush was non-existent. Same with the pass protection — sometimes against a three man rush. A big fumble changed the complexion of the game.
The Chiefs need their stars to be stars in big games like this, and outside of Mahomes they weren’t today. It’s an outcome I never would have imagined possible in a game with these kinds of stakes, and with this kind of bad blood.
The response from the leaders in that locker room will determine the outcome of this season. What they put on tape today isn’t good enough to get them to February.
11 - Dropbacks affected by the Bengals Defensive Line
The Chiefs offense was largely fine on Sunday against the Bengals. The Chiefs racked up 349 yards of net offense and 24 points on just seven “real” possessions - both numbers beating a good Bengals’ defense season averages. If an unfortunate fumble by Travis Kelce doesn’t occur early in the fourth quarter, those numbers – and the flow of the game – tilt even more in the Chiefs’ favor.
However, the Bengals did win outside the turnover margin on Sunday. Cincinnati got after Patrick Mahomes in a way that we haven’t seen in several weeks, hitting/sacking/knocking down the quarterback on 11 of his 31 dropbacks. Mahomes was constantly under duress, forcing some errant passes and throwaways that haven’t been especially common in the 2022 season. Mahomes’ 59% completion rate on Sunday hovered right around his two worst of the year, and his 223 yards passing were the lowest of his 2022 campaign.
Joe Thuney’s absence for the second straight week definitely impacted the game, but pressures weren’t just coming through backup Nick Allegretti. The Chiefs’ line will have to get significantly better down the stretch if they want to keep putting the game on Mahomes’ shoulders.
5/7 - Third and 5+ conversions by the Bengals Offense
The Chiefs defense left a lot to be desired in a lot of different areas on Sunday against the Bengals. Whether it be a lack of pass rush (1 sack, 1 QB hit), an inability to successfully cover the middle of the field (over 10+ yards per play when attacking between the hashes), or a complete lack of tackling ability when coming downhill, the Chiefs defense did not hold up their end of the bargain against one of their biggest foes in the AFC this season.
However, the absolute biggest killer for the Chiefs defense on Sunday was an inability to get off the field on third and long. The Bengals converted 64% of their third downs on the day, but the third and five or more situations were even worse, going for a first down on 71% of the plays. These were obvious passing downs that the Bengals were able to stand in the pocket and deliver five times – including four straight conversions during the last two drives of the game when the team absolutely needed them.
The most difficult part about these conversions is that they weren’t all like the final one – with Joe Burrow delivering an on-target dart past the sticks. No, unfortunately a few of these crucial conversions were dump-offs that the Bengals offense was able to run through the Chiefs defensive efforts. On a night that the Chiefs defense had done plenty of talking and looked to back it up, the effort on third and long was definitely lacking.
The Kansas City Chiefs yet again fall short against the Cincinnati Bengals with the same result - albeit a slightly different path - as the previous two matchups. The Chiefs and Bengals were going back and fourth most of this game and it was evident early on that it was going to come down to whoever had the last possession. The Chiefs were in a position to maybe push for that title, or at least to take the lead and put all the pressure on the Bengals to need a Touchdown to win the game.
Then our play of the game or lack thereof occurred.
The Chiefs are coming off a 3rd down sack against a 3-man pass rush after Orlando Brown Jr. got absolutely undressed by a second year edge rusher and facing a 4th and 7 from Cincinnati’s 37 yard line. They are down by 3 points with 3:27 left in the game while both teams have all their timeouts. It’s gut check time for the Chiefs, who are you going to trust for the rest of this game?
Andy Reid decides to trust the Special Teams unit and likely the defense to get an ensuing stop.
Harrison Butker comes out to try a 55 yard Field Goal that he just hooks to the left. The miss in itself is a bit unlucky because of a slightly off snap. Harrison Butker had long been a really good kicker for the Chiefs in tight spots so it would be expected he could hit that kick, so let’s pretend he did. The Bengals now had over 3 minutes and 3 timeouts to drive down the field only needing a Field Goal to win the game.
The Bengals had exactly two drives in which they didn’t score at least a Field Goal on the Chiefs defense. The first came on a punt mid-way through the first half. The second happened at the end of the first half on a failed 4th down conversion on the Chiefs’ 4 yard line after a 70 yard drive. The belief in the Chiefs’ defense to come up with a stop with the game on the line seems wildly misplaced.
Then you flip to the road not taken… Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense. The Chiefs had 6 offensive drives - no including the end of the first half - up to this point. They had scored on 4 of them, including 3 TDs on their last 4 drives. The one drive that didn’t result in points in that stretch was a fumble on a 19 yard gain.
The Chiefs offense was clicking equally as well as the Bengals’ offense and there was zero belief from anyone they were going to get a stop. So Andy Reid trotting the Special Teams unit onto the field was taken as a massive win by the Bengals’ home crowd and players. No matter what the result was, they now had the best opportunity to win this football game.
That “what if” scenario is going to loom over the Chiefs heads for a long time, as it should. Would the Chiefs have won the game? No one knows, but what is known is they chose the hardest possible path to get a victory and it ultimately backfired directly into their face.
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