Chiefs lose 19-17 to the Bucs: Insta-reaction!

One of the reasons I prefer the absurdity of sports over the seriousness of sports is that none of us know anything. Not the media, not the fans, not the players and not the coaches. We're all guessing on what's going to happen, and if you thought otherwise, here's something that actually happened:

The Chiefs, with a dominant Dee Ford, welcomed #elite pass rusher Justin Houston back for the first time against the Bucs and promptly produced precious little pass rush.

Ford did not play after halftime, with a hamstring injury, and Houston was solid but very unspectacular. To be fair, he did appear to be held more than once, but that's true in most games.

Anyway, more rushed reaction from what turned out to be the Chiefs' 19-17 loss to the Bucs on Sunday.

▪ Dustin Colquitt, in addition to being kind enough to go along with a columnist's dumb idea, is so good at his job.

▪ Justin Houston spent most of the game looking like a guy playing for the first time this season. He was smart, going into coverage when he needed to, setting the edge on run plays his way, and generally being in the right places at the right times.

But there was no dynamic presence. It's interesting that the Chiefs moved Dee Ford to the defense's right, giving Houston his customary defense's left spot, which means being lined up against the generally weaker right tackle.

Houston didn't play the whole game, presumably as he works his way back into "football shape," which is shorthand for cardiovascular strength, and playing through contact.

This is one thing I'm not worried about. The Chiefs were slow with Houston, saying they wanted him to be as close to full strength as possible before they brought him back. I don't know how realistic it was to expect him to be Justin F. Houston in his first game, but he has the talent and focus to trust he'll be back to that soon enough.

▪ OK, let's talk about Alex Smith. My game column will be about him, and the offense, so I'll try to keep this brief but:

His underperformance is the single biggest thing holding the Chiefs back. He's always been a small-margin-for-error guy, and missing touchdown throws like he did last week in Carolina, throwing the pick at the goal line today, and allowing his running threat to evaporate without making up for it somewhere else has ruined his effectiveness.

I've always been higher than most on Smith, seeing him as good enough to win with if you have the right pieces around him. But he's regressed so far this season, which is troubling because this was always set up to be the best statistical season of his career.

The interception in the end zone was horrendous. The pass was tipped, but at least on first look it's not clear if that's what caused the interception. Either way, Smith never considered a different option, staring Conley down immediately after the play-action fake. The safety didn't bite, which Smith must not have seen, because that was too easy of an interception and return.

▪ The offense has been pretty bad three weeks in a row now. Against the Bucs, they hit two long passes, and really seemed to be OK until third down. But they struggled in those important spots, converting just two of their first six, and stalling too often in those moments of truth. This is a trend now, and this comes after a week in which the team talked openly of needing to be better on third downs, and against a pretty bad defense.

Please stop back by for the game column. Should be up by 7 or 8 tonight. Will have some good information.

This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Chiefs lose 19-17 to the Bucs: Insta-reaction!."