It’s Put Up or Shut Up Time for the Kansas City Chiefs
After a rough start to December, we are about to find out what the 2023 version of the Kansas City Chiefs is made of over the final month of the regular season.
The Chiefs are coming off back-to-back losses and have lost three of their last four games. It’s an unfamiliar and uncomfortable spot for fans who have become spoiled by what seemed to be an “easy” path to 12 or more wins each season. Not only that, but the Chiefs have spoiled Chiefs Kingdom with home AFC Championship Game appearances every year in this run under the leadership of head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes. No other team in NFL history has had a five-year stretch quite like that.
Even during this historic stretch of football, we’ve seen how heartbreaking playoff losses can be. There was the Dee Ford offsides against the New England Patriots, a depleted offensive line in a lopsided Super Bowl loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a team that didn’t show up in the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Chiefs really could have gone to five straight Super Bowls, but things happen. This season, there have been several things mounting. Now it’s up to the team to get things right.
At this point, the drops from receivers look like a part of the team that just isn’t going to change this season. Either it has been bad luck and they've been the worst in the league in that area by mistake, or it's time to accept there will be a few drops that kill momentum each game. Maybe they can put together a string of games in which the mistakes disappear. That would likely need to be the case if the Chiefs want to make another Super Bowl run.
There’s been enough talk about the referees. It’s time to cool it on that front. Yes, they make bad calls every game. Sometimes, they swallow their whistles and don’t make a call when they should. Sometimes, they ignore a penalty all game just to call it in a critical moment. They're human and will never be perfect. It’s time for the Chiefs to take matters into their own hands and not leave it in the hands of the referees. There’s been a lot of chirping; it’s time to put up or shut up down the home stretch of the season.
Dec 10, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid watches play against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Despite all of the insufficiencies thus far, the Chiefs are sitting at 8-5 — first place in the AFC West and just two games behind the Baltimore Ravens for the one-seed in the AFC. The Miami Dolphins, who the Chiefs beat just over a month ago, are currently the two-seed and the Chiefs are only a game behind them. The Chiefs have a perceived “easier” schedule down the stretch as well.
The Chiefs should be favored in every game in the final month of the season, and that likely won’t be the case for the Ravens or Dolphins. After the Dolphins get the New York Jets at home this weekend, they will face the Dallas Cowboys, Ravens and Buffalo Bills. The Ravens play on the road this weekend in Jacksonville against the Jaguars and face another road battle in San Francisco the following week against the 49ers. They wrap up their season at home against the Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers.
As crazy as it may seem, with those schedules, the Ravens and Dolphins could both finish the season with five losses on their resumes. This would leave the Chiefs with the one-seed if they can win out.
Down the stretch, the Chiefs will be facing the Bailey Zappe-led Patriots, Aidan O’Connell-led Las Vegas Raiders, Jake Browning-led Bengals and Easton Stick-led Los Angeles Chargers. That isn’t to say it will be an easy run for Kansas City. The Patriots, Raiders and Bengals are all coming off their most impressive wins of the season. There will still be challenges. However, the Chiefs' defense should have a dominant finish. It's on the offense to rise above the mistakes that have been made on the field and the outside noise off the field through the first three-quarters of the season.
Despite what anyone else may say, the Chiefs are still the team to beat in the AFC until proven otherwise and the opportunity to snatch the one-seed is still there. They didn’t make it easy on themselves, but all of their goals before the season are still ahead of them. This final month of the season gives them the chance to get hot at the right time and go into the playoffs looking like a team nobody wants to face. It’s now or never for the Chiefs, which starts this weekend against the Patriots.
