‘I don’t know if this team practices.’ NFL media offers thoughts on Chiefs’ struggles

There is plenty of blame to go around for what happened Sunday in the Chiefs’ 27-3 loss at Tennessee as well as the way Kansas City is playing right now.

The Chiefs look out of sorts on offense and defense, and their postseason hopes look shaky at best. FiveThirtyEight.com gives the Chiefs a 47% chance of making the playoffs.

Much has been written and said about the Chiefs following Sunday’s game. Here is a roundup of talk about Kansas City’s woes.

Kevin Patra of NFL.com wrote “Patrick Mahomes runs out of magic.”

Here is an excerpt from his story: “Facing a defense that’s been decimated in the secondary, the Chiefs offense was unrecognizable, unable to sustain drives, making unforced errors and looking out of sorts all afternoon. The Chiefs generated a measly 67 total yards in the first two quarters, averaging 3.9 yards per play, never crossing midfield. With the defense unable to get a stop, it seems like Mahomes feels he must be perfect each drive, which has led to forced passes that have ended in turnovers. Sunday’s loss was a culmination of issues that plagued K.C. as it fell to 3-4, further behind in the playoff race as we near the midway part of the season.”

Former Chiefs offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz offered five thoughts on KC for Fox Sports.

This is part of what he wrote: “While it’s difficult to speak poorly of the organization, it’s also hard to ignore the Chiefs’ draft picks and player additions since taking Mahomes with their first pick in 2017. Since the Mahomes pick, Kansas City has largely struck out in the draft, and its roster is suffering.”

ESPN’s Adam Teicher gave the Chiefs a 4 on a confidence level of zero to 10.

He wrote: “The Chiefs look cooked. Their defensive problems have been with them almost all season, while their offense in Tennessee was a mess.”

NBC Sports’ Peter King named Mahomes the Goat of the Week in his “Football Morning In America” column.

Here is part of what he wrote: “Two more Mahomes turnovers in his own territory — man, this is getting to be an epidemic, uncharacteristically — in the second quarter in Nashville led to 10 Tennessee points and turned a 17-0 game into 27-0 by halftime. Mahomes picks in 2019: five. Mahomes picks in 2020: six. Mahomes picks in seven games this year: nine. ... KC now leads the NFL with 17 turnovers through seven weeks. That is so unlike an Andy Reid team.”

Fox Sports’ Nick Wright, a Kansas City native, said he’s in panic mode and predicted what the Giants would do against the Chiefs next Monday.

“If I hadn’t watched a Giants game all year, if I’d never watched football, I could tell you: guess what the Giants are gonna do,” Wright said. “They’re gonna play two-high safety and make you take short gains, that’s going to be their defense. On offense, they’re going to play-action pass you to death, and throw in the flat, and intermediate over the middle. That’s what the Giants are gonna do next week, and I have no reason to believe the Chiefs are gonna be prepared for it, because it’s what everyone has done every week. I don’t know if this team practices.”

Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr wrote a story with the headline, “Chiefs’ struggles show nobody can escape the NFL’s parity.”

Here is a snippet from the story: “They are no longer a pseudo-dynasty. They are between pseudo-dynasties, much like we’ve seen from the Packers over the course of Aaron Rodgers’s tenure, or Peyton Manning’s Colts, or Drew Brees’ Saints. There are going to be some lean years mixed in over the course of a Hall of Fame career.

“That should be okay. That should be something we understand even if it always feels strange at the beginning. The Chiefs may not return to the Super Bowl this year. ... That means the rest of the NFL is working, and that we’re just a short window of time away from wishing Kansas City would stop destroying everyone all the time again.”

Tyler Dunne of the New York Times wrote about the Chiefs’ troubles in his recap of Week 7.

This is an excerpt: “(T)he Chiefs are suddenly lost in 2021. Mahomes has had to play at a ridiculously extreme pace to keep Kansas City alive, and it is proving to be unsustainable. We now know the Chiefs’ defense is bad — really bad — but the 27-point deficit Mahomes faced at halftime was the largest in his career. He’s been part of the problem.

“Mahomes, the 2018 most valuable player, threw an interception in his sixth straight game and Sunday’s contest ended in cruel fashion. On a final fourth-and-18, he was sandwiched between two Titans defenders. Jeffery Simmons, all 6 feet 4 inches and 305 pounds of him, went airborne over the top and caused Mahomes’s head to crank upward at an awkward angle.”

Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt talked about the Chiefs issues on “Good Morning Football” on the NFL Network.

Brandt said the Chiefs’ schedule won’t get easier.