From the Editors Show: 3 Chiefs losses to Bengals are by a total of 9 points

Dec 7, 2022 - 3:01 PM

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On the latest episode of the Arrowhead Pride Editors’ Show podcast, Pete Sweeney and John Dixon discussed their marinated takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Week 13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

(Listen to the podcast above or by clicking here. It is also available on Spotify.)

The Chiefs’ 3 losses to the Bengals are by a combined 9 points

John: “The thing that struck me this morning after this big game where the Chiefs lose — and we’re going crazy because it’s the third loss in a row to the Bengals: the Chiefs have only lost by nine total points in these three games. We’ve seen Patrick Mahomes erase larger deficits than that in four minutes of game time. It’s not as if the Chiefs are getting destroyed in these games. They just haven’t found a way to get it done against this team yet. At the end of the day, NFL games turn on tiny things — and that’s really been the case in all three of these matchups.”

The Chiefs' loss came from fixable mistakes

Pete: “I tend to think that what could be considered fixable mistakes provide narratives the 180 treatment... What I mean by that is Travis Kelce — who is the epitome of excellence — fumbles the football. If he doesn’t fumble that football we’re sitting here talking about the Chiefs still being Super Bowl favorites, there’s no narrative about the Bengals, Patrick Mahomes is still MVP/best quarterback in football, Justin Reid’s trash talk is backed up and Harrison Butker isn’t a problem. All of this would be happening if Travis Kelce doesn’t fumble that football... I don’t want to kill Travis — because there were plenty of other mistakes in this game — but you could feel the game turn on that fumble. It felt like the Chiefs never recovered.”

The Chiefs are still looking for a playmaker outside of Kelce

Pete: “I think the Chiefs are a Super Bowl contender without Tyreek Hill. However, I think there are big games where you can see they really miss Hill... I just think it’s clear they are missing that super-talented wide receiver they can lean on in key moments of the game. Just think if the Chiefs had a player like Tee Higgins or Gabe Davis... they just don’t have that kind of guy who can go give you a play when you absolutely need it. They can absolutely still get it done with the personnel they have. It’s just going to be more challenging until they find that guy beyond Travis Kelce.”

John: “I think you’re right. The offense has been unexpectedly good without Tyreek Hill, but there's a dimension that just isn’t there this season... We saw early in the season how this was going with trying to replace one player with three or four and it worked for the most part. I also think we just haven’t seen exactly what the Chiefs were hoping to put on the field yet. with Kadarius Toney immediately going down and now Mecole Hardman trying to get healthy... I think if Mecole Hardman had been available for this game he would have made a difference for the Chiefs.”

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