How KC Chiefs plan to bounce back in ‘response-driven league’ following loss to Bengals
In the week leading up to Sunday’s game in Cincinnati against the Bengals, the Chiefs had talked about one key theme, according to safety Tyrann Mathieu.
How are we going to respond when those guys make a big play?
Examining the Chief’s 34-31 loss — the team’s first since Oct. 24 — it’s clear to Mathieu that they came up short in that area.
“This is a response-driven league,” Mathieu said. “I just didn’t think we responded well enough today. I know some people are gonna talk about certain calls that were made late in the game, and outside of that I still feel like we could have responded a lot better defensively.”
The Chiefs forced the Bengals to punt on their first two drives and held a 14-0 advantage with a little under three minutes left in the first quarter.
Within 49 seconds, that lead was cut in half.
On second-and-7 at the 28-yard line, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw a short pass to Ja’Marr Chase on his left. After reeling in the ball, the rookie wide receiver toyed with the defense, using several shifty moves to force multiple missed tackles as he sprinted 72 yards to the end zone.
The touchdown was the first allowed by Kansas City in the first quarter of a game since October.
“Even if guys make a big play, you know, catch a ball or get a touchdown, it’s all about the next drive and how we respond,” Mathieu said. “We had some moments in the game where we responded well, but when we really needed it we just couldn’t get off the field.”
Over the course of the rest of the game, the defense only forced the Bengals to punt the ball one more time, allowing a touchdown or field goal on five of their final six drives.
There were a lot of little things that the Chiefs could have done differently. But allowing Chase to finish with 11 receptions for 266 yards and three touchdowns, big play after big play, stands out as one of the biggest factors in Sunday’s outcome.
Chase torched the Chiefs’ defense all afternoon, perhaps most notably with a 30-yard catch to convert on third-and-27 on the final drive of the game.
“I didn’t think we tackled well,” Mathieu said. “I didn’t think we really tried to stop deep balls on the outside. I think playing cornerback in this league is a tough job, but we could get it done. We could do it. And I just felt like today just wasn’t our day.”
If this is a response-driven league, as Mathieu asserted, now the question becomes how the Chiefs respond to the loss.
“As coaches and players, you learn from it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I mean, that’s all you can do right now. The guys battled and I thought played good, aggressive football. We just came up short against a good team. And so we’ll go back, we’ll study it and we’ll try to get better from it.”
With the Titans defeating the Dolphins 34-3 on Sunday, the Chiefs’ path to the top overall seed in the AFC looks significantly more difficult. The Titans hold the tiebreaker and face the 4-12 Texans next week. So even if the Chiefs defeat the Broncos on the road, more likely than not, a playoff bye isn’t coming their way.
“When we’re chasing the things that we’re chasing, any loss feels like a letdown — it feels like you’re going 10 steps back,” Mathieu said. “We just can’t really let that affect us going forward. We still got a lot to play for.”
The Chiefs still have a spot in the playoffs clinched. So their goal of reaching a third consecutive Super Bowl is still within reach, even if getting there won’t be as easy.
Mathieu said it’s key for the Chiefs to stick with the mindset that enabled them to improve from a 3-4 start and contend for the AFC’s top seed.
“You don’t point fingers, you don’t blame coaches, you don’t blame a particular player or particular series,” Mathieu said. “You just go back to work. You keep bonding with your teammates, you keep that chemistry alive and you keep believing in your coaches, as well.”
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes knows that playing Denver on the road next Sunday, in the last game of the regular season, will be a challenge. But like Reid and Mathieu, he’s confident the Chiefs will respond the right way.
“After you lose a game like you’d lost it today, it shouldn’t be difficult to be ready to go again the next week,” Mahomes said. “Guys will be ready to go.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2022 at 7:05 PM.
