In one of the more surprising developments of the NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs are not where most people thought they would be at the midway point.
They’re currently a .500 team, and just climbed back to that threshold after a struggle of a contest against the New York Giants on Monday night.
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Given the exceptional track record they’ve put together over the last few seasons, it’s still too early to panic about Kansas City’s slow start.
With that being said, there are certainly cracks in the armor for a team that seemed to be a shoe-in for the AFC title game, at worst.
The Chiefs did acquire Melvin Ingram before the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it should help a defense that has struggled so far in 2021.
However, there were a couple of other moves out there Kansas City would’ve been well advised to pursue that could have helped them just as much.
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2. Marlon Mack
Patrick Mahomes is one of the most naturally gifted quarterbacks the game has ever seen, but he’s uncharacteristically forced some things that have led to turnovers.
There’s not much concern that he’ll revert back to the MVP-level form that we’re all accustomed to seeing.
However, every quarterback benefits from a solid supporting cast, which includes a viable running game.
Starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is still not ready to return after suffering a knee injury in Week 5.
Since that time, Kansas City has patched it together in the backfield with the likes of Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore.
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Even though Edwards-Helaire is the clear leader in that room, he probably hasn’t been as good as the draft capital invested in him (first round in 2020) would suggest.
For injury-related or competition-related reasons, the Chiefs would’ve been wise to bring on Marlon Mack from the Indianapolis Colts.
He appears to be fully healthy after his Achilles injury in 2020, and would’ve served as a viable option for carries over Williams and Gore.
The #Colts and RB Marlon Mack have agreed to mutually seek a trade, per sources. Mack is fully healthy after last year’s Achilles tear. But Jonathan Taylor as the bell cow and Nyheim Hines recently extended, Mack is hoping for opportunities elsewhere.
To be clear, bringing on the likes of an Odell Beckham Jr. would have been a luxury add for Kansas City, and would’ve cost a lot more to bring in than a rotational back like Mack.
But if the Chiefs are interested in getting back to the AFC title game, and perhaps a Super Bowl in a possible rematch with a loaded Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, a move like that would have been justified.
Beckham has been released by the Cleveland Browns, and it’s possible the Chiefs knew this would happen, and didn’t want to part with compensation due to that prediction.
With that said, a day-three draft pick probably would’ve been accepted by Cleveland.
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While fellow supremely talented wide receiver Josh Gordon is playing more each week, the chances of him recapturing anything close to his old form after two years away are slim.
Beckham doesn’t figure to be the same player he once was either, but he has at least been in the league competing consistently.
Kansas City offers Beckham a team with a well-defined structure, and an offense that loves to air it out.
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge attributed some of his horrendous clock management in Week 8 to lackluster headsets. He also claimed it’s been a persistent issue this year, occurring in all eight games and each of the five stadiums in which his team has played.
“The headsets were going out,” Judge told reporters after a 20-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “We are having headset issues. This has happened in every game so far. We deal with the league and they keep telling us there are different software updates or whatever it is, but we had to call two timeouts today because we were trying to send the deals in personnel wise and you got half of the headsets not getting reception.
“I have had it at every single stadium this year home and away. I have had issues personally. I would say this. Whoever is in charge of it. I don’t know the exact answer. I don’t know if it comes from the league or us exactly, but they better fix it fast. That is it. We get the communication back that these things are an issue and then we get told they have adjusted this, they have done this, whatever it is.”
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The NFL however, disputes Judge’s claim. Their initial investigation found no issue with the Giants’ equipment, which had been provided by Bose.
“We are looking into the matter with all involved parties; however, we are confident that nothing is attributable to the Bose headset,” the NFL said in a statement. “We have not been able to identify an issue in last night’s game with the Giants’ communication system.
“We were not made aware of any issues during the game from the club through our standard communication channels that are used to identify gameday issues.”
Judge had also claimed the NFL previously denied a request for the team to use last season’s hardware.
“We have tried to adjust and use different hardware. It has not been allowed. We will keep on moving on,” Judge said.
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The league did not offer a comment on that allegation.
Monday night’s matchup pitted two teams heading in different directions. In the case of the New York Giants, they were pointing up for once while the two-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs were pointing down.
After this game, few should have confidence in either team’s prospects. It was an undisciplined mess marred with penalties, mistakes and errors — forced and unforced — that that led onlookers to believe that these two teams would have hard time beating one of other 30 teams in the league on the night.
The first quarter was all Chiefs, but an early interception in the end zone held the score down to 7-0 in favor of Kansas City. The Giants were way out of synch on their first two possessions with Daniel Jones throwing an interception on the team’s second play.
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On their third possession, the Giants drove 85 yards on nine plays and scored on fourth down on the one yard-line when Jones found tight end Kyle Rudolph open in the end zone to tie the game at seven early in the second quarter.
Kansas City went ahead, 14-7 with 6:37 left in the first half behind the running back journeyman Derrick Gore, who scored on a three-yard rush to conclude an 11-play, 68-yard drive.
The Giants clawed back to 14-10 on their next drive with a 23-yard field goal from Graham Gano that was buoyed by a 41-yard screen pass to Devontae Booker and a roughing the passer penalty. Another red zone failure, however.
The Giants had a chance to add more points in the final two minutes but had used all of their time outs earlier in the half. Then back-to-back penalties on the offensive line put the Giants out of field goal range.
After the teams traded punts in the third quarter, the Giants took possession when Logan Ryan jarred the football loose from Travis Kelce and it was recovered by James Bradberry on the Giants’ 43. Eight plays later, Jones hit Even Engram for a five-yard touchdown to put the Giants up, 17-14, with 14:53 remaining in the fourth quarter.
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Kansas City then went on another long drive that resulted in a game-tying, 36-yard field goal from Harrison Butker. Leonard Williams stripped-sacked Patrick Mahomes on third down to kill the drive.
Kansas City ended up on top, 20-17, on Butker’s 34-yard field goal after several lapses and penalties aided the Chiefs’ drive. With 1:07 remaining the Giants took possession with no time outs, but failed to drive the ball anywhere near a possible tying field goal attempt.
The Giants squandered a golden opportunity to beat a slumping Kansas City team. A terrible loss that will stick in Giant fans’ craws for some time.
Notes
The Giants were 10.5 underdogs in this game and covered the spread for the fourth time in eight games this season.
Kansas City entered the night leading the NFL in turnovers with 17. Mahomes threw an INT in the end zone to conclude the Chiefs’ first drive. Unfortunately, Jones gave it right back with in INT of his own on the Giants’ second play.
The Chiefs committed 12 penalties for 103 yards but the Giants couldn’t capitalize as they got flagged 10 times themselves for 88 yards, most of them costly.
The Giants’ use of timeouts and clock management, especially at the end of halves, is so poor it’s almost baffling. Near the end of the first half, they needed to stop the clock on what could have been a possible scoring drive. Then, they only had one time out left late in the fourth quarter as the Chiefs burned the clock at will during their game-winning drive.
Jones came into the game 0-6 in primetime games. He’s now 0-7. The Giants have now lost their last nine games in primetime.
The Giants’ wide receivers continued to get banged up. Dante Pettis injured his shoulder while muffing a punt in the second quarter and was forced from the game. Sterling Shepard let the game right before halftime with a quad injury and also didn’t return. Kadarius Toney injured his left thumb early in the fourth quarter but returned.
Cornerback Aaron Robinson, the Giants’ third-round selection in this year’s draft, made his NFL debut.
The Chiefs also need help at running back because of Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s absence.
Finally, their defense needs upgrades at defensive tackle, edge rusher, and cornerback.
It would be difficult for general manager Brett Veach to address these concerns in one trade deadline.
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All of these are still true at present: 1. Andy Reid is a HOF coach 2. Patrick Mahomes is the game’s best QB 3. Brett Veach is very good at his job 4. The Chiefs have serious issues and blame should be placed at the feet of all parties 5. Some of you need to put the phone down.
It may not be the most appealing trade available, but Mack is hoping to get out of Indianapolis after Jonathan Taylor became the featured running back.
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He is healthy and can provide a boost to the Chiefs’ running game if given a chance.
Mack had stellar seasons in 2018 and 2019, wherein he finished with 908 and 1091 yards, respectively.
Once Edwards-Helaire returns, a partnership with Mack is a backfield tandem that other teams will respect.
Likewise, trading for him won’t break Kansas City’s bank because he will count for only $250,000 against the cap.
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1. Charles Harris – Defensive End, Detroit Lions
It would be better for the Detroit Lions to trade Harris away if he doesn’t fit their plans.
On the other hand, the Chiefs need all the help they can get on defense because they surrender close to 130 rushing yards per game.
Worst, they’re only generating 1.1 sacks per game which are the NFL’s worst per-game average.
#Lions LB Charles Harris, a former #Dolphins 1st round bust that was also on the #Falcons in his career, has had one sack in 4 games in a row for Detroit. That is the longest streak in team history.