The Streak is Over, Long Live The Streak
The Kansas City Chiefs’ NFL record of 25 consecutive games scoring 23 points or more came to an end last Sunday as they defeated the Denver Broncos, 22-16. The last time the Chiefs failed to score at least 23 points was in a home loss to the Indianapolis Colts, 19-13, on October 6, 2019. That was the only time a Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs team has ever scored less than 20 points in a game.
That loss to the Colts broke the Chiefs’ previous NFL record of 22 consecutive games of scoring 23 or more points, a streak that started when Alex Smith was still the starting quarterback for Kansas City.
Needless to say, it is very rare for the Chiefs to score fewer than 23 points in a game. It is just a silly streak, but it is one that could have easily been prevented. Tyreek Hill actually caught a touchdown pass that was ruled an incomplete pass.
It was a third-down play, a perfect pass from Mahomes to Hill, but there was no challenge and the Chiefs punted on the next play. At the end of the game, the score could have (and should have) been 29-16.
The Mahomes-to-Hill connection had another touchdown called back due to a holding call. The final score could have just as easily been 36-16.
In fact, Mahomes and Hill weren’t on the same page even earlier in the game and just missed another long touchdown completion. Another 100+ yards and three touchdowns were left on the table. If you’re keeping track at home, that is a final that just missed being 43-16.
We haven’t even touched on several touchdown opportunities the Chiefs blew in the red zone. The run blocking has been poor lately, but Kansas City should be able to punch it in from the one-yard line.
No one wants to bring up the elephant in the room, but it is about time the Chiefs bring the quarterback sneak back into the playbook. Head coach Andy Reid has 500 million reasons to not run it, but Mahomes gets hit on plays outside of the dreaded sneak play every game. There is risk involved in every play. It’s time to get over the fear factor and let Mahomes take the plunge to get his team points when it is needed. They could even lean more on option plays, similarly to what they did during Super Bowl LIV. Whatever it takes to get into the end zone.
Harrison Butker was the difference in the game, going five-for-five on field goal attempts, but the Chiefs could have hung 50 points on the Broncos if they had executed on a couple of those red zone efforts.
The Chiefs’ offense will continue to score a lot of points. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them go another 25 games straight of scoring 23 points or more. Mahomes and this offense are something special, and no one should ever take that for granted. The Chiefs’ defense quite literally just needs to hold the opposing team to under 23 points. That is quite a luxury.
In the end, some stats were sacrificed and a streak was ended, but the team got a win and it’s time to look forward. A new points streak can begin this weekend against the Miami Dolphins, but the Chiefs would rather continue their winning streak and a quest to capture the No. 1 seed in the AFC en route to another Super Bowl run.
