Are the Chiefs in trouble? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast Podcast
On the heels of their 38-20 blowout loss to the Bills in Week 5, Yahoo Sports' Scott Pianowski and Andy Behrens break down everything that's going wrong in Kansas City.
Video Transcript
ANDY BEHRENS: Exactly how much trouble are the Chiefs in?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Well, the defense is broken. The running back is hurt.
ANDY BEHRENS: Terrible.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Teams have-- I realized Tyreek Hill went bananas in two weeks-- two weeks ago against Philly, but teams have been slowing down Tyreek Hill. I think they've been frustrating Kansas City on offense a little bit. I mean, Kansas City still moves, what-- they've only punted just a handful of times this year, and we know that they need to clean up the turnovers. But I think it's going to be a really entertaining, like, 10-and-7 football team, 11-and-6 football team that will not go to the Super Bowl.
I feel really good that Frank Schwab and I a week or two ago were talking about Chargers props, and I think we found some outlets where you could get 5 to 1 on the Chargers. Now they're close to, like, even money. They're like a coin flip with Kansas City.
I don't see how they fix this defense. The offensive line-- I mean, Orlando Brown basically held the entire game against Buffalo, and unfortunately that officiating crew wanted to call everything they saw. That really marred what--
ANDY BEHRENS: Yes. Yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: --could have been a fun game. Nobody-- I mean, look, call the egregious stuff. You've got to let some of this ticky stuff-- tack stuff go.
The thing with Kansas City is that Mahomes is the ultimate deodorant. He's the best player in the league, and he's a wizard. He's got a little Steph Curry in him. He's such a dreamer. He can throw from any platform. He can run the ball. He can throw deep. He can throw to the sideline. And you're always-- I had Buffalo last night, and even when Kansas City was down 18 points and doing almost nothing right, I still thought the specter of Mahomes could come out from behind the corner--
ANDY BEHRENS: Right.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: --and just, you know, slay me anyway. And I'm sure Buffalo fans-- at least realistic Buffalo fans probably had a little bit of that fear.
But at some point you have to accept the emperor has no clothes. You know, I don't know that they're going to find a running back, although they're going to try to, with Edwards-Helaire maybe having a major injury. The offensive line stinks, and the defense can't stop anybody. So even when they're going to win against good teams, they're going to have to put up 30-plus points, and that's a really hard way to sustain.
Again, I think they'll probably find a way into the playoffs. The AFC is not particularly strong. But this is a team with flaws. I'd be-- actually, I'll say this word. I'd be shocked if they went to the Super Bowl. I just don't think it's in the cards for them this year.
ANDY BEHRENS: Yeah, I agree with you. To your point about the defense, I just brought up the stats on yards per play allowed. Kansas City is giving up 7.1 yards per play. That's not only the worst in the league. It is the worst in the league by a lot. It's, you know, Detroit, Jacksonville, they're like-- they're like a yard less per play.
It's a defense that hasn't stopped anything. Obviously didn't stop Josh Allen. Hasn't really stopped any opponent all year. That is painful.
And again, to your point, Kansas City can get to 31, 35 points, and they're not guaranteed of winning, right? I felt like Buffalo, given better weather and the need to do it yesterday, could have sort of picked their number against the Chiefs. I don't know how they're going to beat the great teams late in the-- certainly late in the playoffs. Heck, I don't know how they're going to get past the Chargers. I mean, there's multiple teams in the AFC that I don't necessarily see getting-- you know, posing a huge threat.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I don't think anybody's afraid to go into Arrowhead either. I mean, the Chargers have already won there.
ANDY BEHRENS: Right.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: The Bills just won there. The Browns really should have won opening day. The Chiefs bailed that game out with about 10 good minutes in the fourth quarter. That was the term paper the night before, right, you know, where the Browns had studied all summer, and then the Chiefs just showed up the night before and somehow bailed out that game. They easily could have lost. To be fair, they should have beaten Baltimore, and Baltimore kind of did that to the Chiefs the next week.
But look, they're still incredibly watchable. If they wanted to make every Chiefs game an island game, I'd have no problem with it because, you know, I love Andy Reid and the Denny's menu, and Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill are just a blast.
We're still waiting for another receiver. We're still waiting for Mecole Hardman. We're waiting for, I don't know, somebody-- somebody else to emerge, Demarcus Robinson or-- you know, they just added a receiver's name-- it escapes me-- who was good like 19 years old.
ANDY BEHRENS: Josh Gordon.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Josh Gordon. Right, of course. We're still waiting for that third piece to kind of come in, but I still think the Chiefs are watchable. I just think they're going to be a watchable, frustrating team right now. Which, hey, that's the NFL, right?
