KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs were before their third line defenderoperating behind the fifth and sixth tackles on offense, without the benefit of his starting right guard and key receiver.
It's surprising they scored at all. in their 26-9 loss on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
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However, the loss left the Chiefs with their fourth straight loss for the first time since 2017 and saddled Andy Reid with a 6–9 record, securing his first losing season since taking over as coach in Kansas City following the fiasco of the 2012 season.
“Yeah, no one likes to lose in this business,” Reed later said. “I take my hat off to the guys who have worked together all these years. That's part of it. We can learn from it and we should do that in the future. Sometimes a good kick in the pants helps.”
It's hard to imagine what happened Sunday did much for Kansas City.
The turmoil began when veteran backup Gardner Minshew injured his knee a week after Patrick Mahomes. tore a couple of ligaments in his knee. And despite a few bright spots from Chris Oladokun, things didn't go much better against the Titans, whose win over the defending AFC champions could spoil their own bid for the No. 1 pick in April's draft.
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As for the Chiefs, a couple more losses and they might have a top-10 pick of their own.
Not that anyone in the Kansas City locker room thought so.
The Chiefs still have a chance to play the spoiler when the Broncos visit Arrowhead Stadium for a Christmas game on Thursday night. And the finale against the Raiders in Las Vegas provides another opportunity to defeat a hated division rival.
“We just want to go 1-0,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said. “There's really no message here. Just play football. Just like little kids, and we get the opportunity to come here and play the game that we love. You put your whole heart into it. It's kind of a mindset. We have a privilege. I don't want to lose sight of that. I don't ever want to lose sight of that. No matter how bleak it looks inside the building – how it might look outside – that's the mindset that we have. And there's a sense of gratitude and humility.”
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What works
Well, the Chiefs made it to the stadium on time. Beyond that, the biggest positive from Sunday may have been the effort shown by the players under difficult circumstances. The Chiefs could have given up, but they played tough the whole way.
What needs help
Coaching staff in Kansas City.
Over the past three weeks, the Chiefs have placed Mahomes on injured reserve along with left tackle Josh Simmons, right tackle Jawaan Taylor, backup tackle Wanya Morris, defensive end Chris Roland-Wallace, linebacker Leo Chenal, defensive end Nazi Johnson and tight end Jake Briningstool.
Minshew lost on Sunday when the Chiefs also played without injured wide receivers Tyquan Thornton and Rusha Rice, offensive tackle Jaylon Moore, defensive tackle Trent McDuffie, defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi and offensive lineman C.J. Hanson.
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Stock up
Considering the circumstances, Oladokun played quite well. He was 11 of 16 for 111 yards after the QB was abruptly called up from the bench.
Stocks fell
WR Xavier Worthy made little progress in his second year. The Chiefs desperately needed a 2024 first-round pick to step up given all of their injuries on offense, and Worthy managed just two catches for 41 yards against the Titans.
Injuries
It would be quicker to have a list of healthy leaders at this point.
Key number
2: Number of games the Chiefs have left in the season.
Next steps
The Chiefs play Denver on Thursday night. The Christmas Night matchup, which could have featured two elite QBs on playoff-contending teams, will instead feature Bo Nix and the Broncos against Oladokun and a group of Chiefs just trying to make it to the end of the season.
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