Coordinator Eric Bieniemy says the KC Chiefs’ offense has met the enemy, and it’s this

Say this for Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. He won’t sugarcoat the recent struggles of the offense.

The Chiefs have scored 36 points in the past three games. That’s their fewest over a three-game stretch since they scored 36 in the middle of the 2017 season, when Alex Smith was the quarterback.

A difference in the scenarios: The Chiefs lost those three games in 2017. They’re 2-1 in such games this year, with a 27-3 loss to Tennessee Titans followed by victories over the New York Giants (20-17) and Green Bay Packers (13-7).

But Bieniemy knows the operation can be better. The Chiefs, who play at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football, are coming off the lowest outputs in total yards (237) and passing yards (166) since Patrick Mahomes became their full-time starter in 2018.

“For whatever reason we’re having a breakdown here or there,” Bieniemy said. “It’s not just one particular position. It could be a penalty. It could lack of route depth, a poor decision made by the quarterback as far as reads are concerned. It could be a bad read by the running back.”

It’s been all of those things and more, like dropped passes and turnovers — although the Chiefs ended a streak of seven straight games with a giveaway last Sunday when they edged the Packers.

Whatever the reasons, the Chiefs, who haven’t been ranked lower than sixth in points since 2017, are No. 15 in that department heading into Week 10.

Bieniemy never fails to credit opposing defenses. But an explanation for problems with an offense that includes playmakers like Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill, plus a revamped offensive line, should begin with self-analysis.

“It’s like I tell the guys each and every week, let’s go out and play against the opponent because the Chiefs are kicking the Chiefs’ ass,” Bieniemy said.

Perhaps the four-minute drill that clinched the victory over the Packers will be the catalyst for a season’s second half that more closely resembles a Mahomes-led offense of recent years.

Green Bay scored to make it 13-7 with 4:54 remaining. The Packers never got the ball back because the Mahomes connected on first-down passes to Kelce for 22 yards, Mecole Hardman for 9 and Hill for 13 on a third-and-10 to put the game on ice.

“We’re learning how to fight again,” Bieniemy said. “We’re learning how to crawl again. Sometimes you have to learn to crawl before you walk. That’s just the journey in which this season has taken us.

“I’m not going to say that it hasn’t been good for us. It has been good for us. If we take care of business and we handle this the right way, this is going to be something that we’ll look back upon and say because some of the struggles we’ve had, and the adversity we’ve been faced with, we learned how to persevere, come through it and be better. That’s the goal right now. To be better.”