Despite Rough Output, Chiefs' QBs Supported for Performance vs. Buccaneers

Sometimes, it simply isn't your day. That was made clear at multiple spots for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, as everything ranging from scoring points to executing situational football or avoiding getting in their own way seemed to be an uphill battle all night long.

There were some bright spots, namely wide receiver Jalen Royals on the offensive side of the ball and safeties Jaden Hicks and DeShon Singleton on defense. Despite what the box score says, head coach Andy Reid believes his quarterback trio also belongs in that group.

The collective of Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun posted a combined stat line of completing 23 of 35 passes for just 155 yards, no touchdowns and in interception. It was an ugly showing by about every measurement available, yet Reid still gleans something positive.

Taking the podium shortly after the conclusion of Saturday's Chiefs preseason game, Reid kicked his quarterback-related thoughts off by complimenting his rookie for making some tough throws.

"I'll go back and look at it a little closer, but if you're asking specifically about Nuss, I thought he had some nice throws in there," Reid said. "There were a couple where they were tight throws — I've got to look at the route to see if we should've maybe been a little more aggressive coming back to the ball in those tight situations, but it looked like he handled things well. He's getting more comfortable."

He then continued by addressing Fields making the most of his mobility and shielding Oladokun from some of the blame regarding his late-game turnover.

"Justin, I thought, had some good plays in there," Reid said. "A couple of nice throws on the move. And then Chris, you know, Chris had a big third-down play that got tipped and dropped and intercepted. That really gave them a big advantage. Listen, those things happen. You've got to go through them, learn from them and move forward."

Based on sheer efficiency, Fields was the most productive Kansas City signal-caller on Saturday. He completed nine of his 12 passes for 64 yards, also carrying the ball once for a 15-yard gain on third-and-10. Oladokun, whose pass to tight end Tre Watson was imperfect but entirely catchable, had that go down as his lone incompletion but averaged all of 2.8 yards per pass.

Nussmeier was somewhere in the middle, both statistically and via the eye test. In all, he completed just over half of his 17 throws and mustered 74 yards on them. He offered both pluses and minuses with his play once again, whether it be climbing in the pocket to deliver a 17-yard strike to wideout Jalen Royals or making back-to-back passes that were poorly timed and could've been picked off by a better defensive back.

As is frequently the case in the preseason, some of the raw numbers were out of the quarterback's control or didn't show up in a traditional sense. For example, TruMedia reveals that Fields' aforementioned run brought the second-most EPA (expected points added) on offense at 2.5. Nussmeier's deep-ball heave to receiver Andrew Armstrong, which ended in a defensive pass interference call, took the cake at 3.2.

On the flip side, Oladokun's partial-fault interception slotted into the other end of the spectrum (-4.6). Fields also had some lackluster pocket navigation this weekend, worsened by poor tackle play. A 20-yard sack in the first half immediately comes to mind as an example of teach tape in both realms.

Ups and downs are a natural part of the quarterback position, which Reid has always been consistent about. As the Chiefs work to figure out how many field generals they'll carry on the eventual 53-man roster, the legendary head coach is going beyond the data on this one.

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