It’s Week 10 in the NFL, and welcome to Kansas City. There we have an MVP quarterback, the fastest player in the NFL, a tight end who’s arguably the best of all time, and a pathetic 5-4 record. It doesn’t add up.
After barely winning the past two games against the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers and the sporadic New York Giants, the Kansas City Chiefs will be traveling to Las Vegas this week to take on a Raiders team that most expect to win.
Many have wondered who exactly is at fault for the Chiefs’ struggle.
Could it be the $500 million man, Patrick Mahomes, who is in 2nd place for interceptions in 2021 behind Joe Burrow and Sam Darnold? Or perhaps it is Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator, who works with the highest-paid players on the team–Chris Jones, three sacks $8.5 million; Tyrann Mathieu, two interceptions, one sack, $9.7 million; and Frank Clark, one sack, $25.8 million.
And Andy Reid is just as guilty as any. His play-calling has been under scrutiny since the Alex Smith days, and maybe the only person keeping him from being jobless is wearing #15. Patrick Mahomes has changed the way Reid looks at the game. New things are now possible with so much talent on the field, and he’s learning as much as the players at this point. Reid’s adaptation to the new era of football is progressing well. There are new plays, and he’s letting his quarterback take the shots he wants to.
That said, there are salary cap issues with defensive players who are simply not producing, and the lack of production has had devastating results.
Bottom line? The Kansas City Chiefs have a massive hill to climb even though the rest of the season is loaded with conference games against teams Mahomes has handled in the past. It’s just that this season things are different.
If Mahomes plays poorly against the Raiders, is it conceivable that he could be benched? Answer: absolutely not. Andy Reid and ownership would not allow that to happen. They don’t want to humble Mahomes even if it serves team interests in the long run.
Kansas City heads to Vegas for a game that could decide the Chiefs’ fate.
