Andy Reid said the loss was on him. The numbers on Sunday night say it was a lot more than that. Seattle beat Kansas City 20-3 at Lumen Field on Oct. 25, handing the Chiefs their first loss of the season. Patrick Mahomes threw for 165 yards and an interception. Kenneth Walker III ran for 36. The Chiefs finished with 213 total yards, no touchdowns and two missed field goals. Reid took full responsibility afterward, but he offered few details on what actually broke down, and that gap is what Chiefs fans will chew on this week.
Andy Reid takes the blame after Seattle shuts down Kansas City’s offense
Andy Reid did not dodge the question. “All three phases, we struggled,” he told reporters. “So we’ve got to do better, and that’s my responsibility. I take full responsibility for this. We’ve got to play better as a team.” He also tipped his cap to Seattle and called Lumen Field a tough place to play.Specifics were thin. Reid said he could not point to many stats that made sense of the night, other than third downs on both sides of the ball. On Harrison Butker, who missed two field goals, Reid offered this: “He’s off a bit. So, we’ve got to fix that.”The history makes the night look worse. ESPN Insights noted it was the first time in Mahomes’ career that his team went a full game without a drive reaching the red zone. Three points is also the lowest total of his career. Mahomes was back from a season-ending injury, and he finished 19-for-33 with a passer rating of 58.3. With Walker bottled up, the passing game had nothing to lean on.
Seattle won the third-down battle and the clock
Seattle’s side explains why. The Seahawks converted 11 of 16 third downs, according to ESPN’s Nate Taylor, and by the middle of the third quarter they had held the ball twice as long as Kansas City and run more than twice as many plays. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo sent extra rushers at Sam Darnold. It rarely mattered. Darnold kept finding Jaxon Smith-Njigba.Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV said the plan was simple. “We can play,” Jones said. “We go out there, and that’s our goal: To shut you down, shut your lights out.”Seattle also knew Walker well, because he played there before. “Of course, he’s been here, so we know what type of running back he is, but we don’t allow people to run through our defense. That’s just us.”Reid said the Chiefs have to learn from it, win or lose. “I’ll start with myself, and we’ll work our way through it and make sure that we teach,” he said. He called the locker room great and said it will take care of business. Denver is next. The Broncos will not wait for answers, and so far Reid has offered a promise, not a plan.
