The Kansas City Chiefs got taken down by the Denver Broncos in Week 8, a painful 24-9 loss that serves as a Swift kick to the mouth to the Super Bowl hopefuls.
Make no mistake, the Chiefs are still the better team here. No one's disagreeing with that, except for maybe a few overzealous Broncos fans/Russ sympathizers who have "Let's Ride" tattooed on their lower back.
On Sunday afternoon, though, Denver was the better team -- and had some help from fate. Peyton Manning needed a little bit of luck (or a certain fumble) to roll his way to defeat the Chiefs all those years ago, and on Sunday, so did Russell Wilson.
Wilson and the Broncos only won because the Chiefs were bad. Specifically, these three Chiefs. We know that sounds like an ultimate sore loser comment, but it's true.
Here are three Chiefs to blame for breaking the winning streak and for giving Wilson a little more pep in his high knees.
Dave Toub and special teams
Mecole Hardman knows all too well what he did wrong in the loss to the Broncos, so no need to rub too much salt in the wound.
Coming off a great return performance against the Chargers, Hardman committed several gaffes that may have cost the Chiefs the game.
He muffed a punt in the fourth quarter that gave the Broncos the ball in the Chiefs' end zone, leading to a Denver touchdown and a two-score hole. He also chose to return a kick that was coming down to the five-yard-line, a questionable move that resulted in a longer field for the Chiefs offense. And still, at other points in the game, Hardman continued to make poor decisions as a returner. The little things built up, and it felt like Dave Toub's usually stout special teams unit was working against the Chiefs in Week 8.
Changing a returner mid-game would have dealt a massive blow to Hardman's confidence, but Toub shouldn't have just sat back and watched Hardman's mistakes snowball into a larger problem. Special teams often feels like an afterthought when you have an offense helmed by Patrick Mahomes. It shouldn't be, and Toub needs to get his unit in check. Mahomes can blame the flu this game. What does Toub have to blame?
Skyy Moore
Can we call Skyy Moore a bust now? The 2022 No. 54 pick started the 2023 season off on the wrong foot. Eight weeks in, he's somehow tied his laces together and developed into one of Kansas City's most disappointing wide receivers.
On Sunday, he finished with one catch for eight yards on three targets, another low production game that signals he's not yet earned the trust of Patrick Mahomes.
After his fourth-down dropped would-be touchdown against Denver late in the game, he's fallen further down the theoretical ranking of Mahomes' trusted targets, which goes like: 1. Travis Kelce. (insert 50 feet of separation) 2. Everyone else.
Rashee Rice is slowly making his way up the rungs, and both Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Kadarius Toney have flashed their value here and there. Moore is the odd man out, and in this lackluster wideout corps, that's saying something.
For the amount of snaps he's getting, Moore should not be coasting on one or two catches a week. Stop daydreaming about that touchdown catch in last year's Super Bowl, and get your head in the game.
Patrick Mahomes
You've met one-legged Mahomes, Tyreek Hill-less Mahomes, and even snow game Mahomes. A little powder doesn't bother him.
The flu might. It would help explain why Mahomes threw two picks against zero touchdowns and struggled in the end zone all afternoon. His opponent, Russell Wilson, seemed to zap all the talent out of a now-mortal Mahomes and use it in his own game -- Wilson finished with just over 100 yards passing but had three touchdowns against no interceptions.
A topsy-turvy Chiefs-Broncos matchup saw Mahomes uncharacteristically flail on third down conversions (partly Andy Reid's fault) and concede three turnovers overall, two picks and one lost fumble. He and Kelce lacked their usual spark, and Mahomes himself just looked... a bit off.
Does Mahomes get the special treatment for being the darling media child of the NFL? Yes, he does. But it's also possible Mahomes was affected enough by his pre-game illness that he made more mistakes than usual.
Call it a bad day at the office. Every quarterback has one of those.
