Key takeaways from first half of Chiefs vs. Bengals
It’s always a struggle against the Cincinnati Bengals for this Kansas City Chiefs team. This game got off to a poor start, primarily due to self-inflicted wounds. It’s almost like we’ve heard that before, especially when playing against this particular team. Thankfully, the deficit isn’t too much for this team to overcome and they get the ball coming out of the half.
Here are a few quick takeaways from the first half of play:
Red zone offense needs to be better
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The Chiefs have been really good in the red zone this season, save for last week’s game and now this week against the Bengals. The lack of speed to threaten east-west with Mecole Hardman and Kadarius Toney both injured has been notable. Kansas City just hasn’t seemingly found a solution to the absence of those two players. They have Justin Watson and Skyy Moore, who both have enough speed to threaten, but haven’t really been as successful there.
There also seemed to be some hesitance to run the ball in the red zone early on for whatever reason. I get not wanting to take the ball out of Patrick Mahomes’ hands, but at some point, you’re going to have to trust the running game to get it done with a short distance to gain. Late in the second quarter, they started running in the red zone more often, but they’ll need to continue that moving forward.
Chiefs defense talked the talk, but have hardly walked the walk
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So far, it looks like Justin Reid wrote a check that the Chiefs’ defense has been unable to cash. In the opening drive of the game, they couldn’t stop Joe Burrow, who targeted the middle of the field and avoided throws outside the numbers. On the second drive, two penalties extended the drive and gave the Bengals too many chances.
On the third offensive drive from Cincy, a push-off called on Ja’Marr Chase stalled the drive. If the Chiefs want to have a chance to come back and win this game, the defense is going to have to perform more as they did on the third drive. Get the Bengals playing behind the sticks and get off the field on third down. In total Cincinnati had 13 first downs and was 3-of-5 on third down in the first half. The biggest defensive play from Kansas City was a fourth-down stop by Carlos Dunlap late in the second quarter.
Jerick McKinnon came to play
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The Chiefs might want to consider feeding RB Jerick McKinnon because he has been the most effective offensive player on the field in the first half. Carrying the ball, he has five attempts for 39 yards, good for an average of 7.8 yards per play. As a receiver, he has just one reception for two yards and a touchdown.
The rushing attack has been the most effective thing for Kansas City on offense right now. They’re going to need to stay committed to it if they’re going to be able to come back in this one. McKinnon should be the trusted choice in the backfield moving forward today.
