KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. He serves as KSHB 41's digital reporter for all Chiefs games. Share your story idea with Tod.
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Just like the gorgeous moon rising above GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff hopes are waning.
If Kansas City’s tussle with Houston was a play-in game for the AFC playoffs, the Texans’ 20-10 win may have KO’d the three-time reigning Lamar Hunt Trophy holders.
Six plays after coach Andy Reid’s head-scratching fourth-down call failed and set up Houston with a short field, Dare Ogunbowale powered in from 5 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 6:56 remaining.
Ogunbowale — a ninth-year journeyman running back, who entered the game with three carries for 18 yards, and none since late October — was only in the game because Woody Marks got hurt on the previous play and Nick Chubb was unavailable with a rib injury.
In reality, there was plenty of blame to go around, whether it was because of drops or Patrick Mahomes’ three interceptions.
“Offensively, we didn’t play the way we were supposed to play, but I’m proud of how the defense fought,” Mahomes said. “With all the disadvantages we put them in, they kept just giving us chances. That’s all we can ask from them.”
The end result was another stomach-churning loss for Chiefs Kingdom, one that leaves Kansas City 6-7 — insert your own middle-school joke here — and needing a minor miracle to extend a 10-year postseason streak.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Chiefs from the AFC West race — ending a nine-year streak of division titles, which had been the second-longest in NFL history.
Denver (11-2) or the Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) will win the AFC West this season.
REID ROLLS SNAKE EYES
Early in the fourth quarter, Houston faced fourth-and-1 at its own 35-yard line.
DeMeco Ryans opted to punt, trust his defense and play the field-position game.
Andy Reid faced a similar decision four plays later, when Mahomes got stopped a yard short of the first down after scrambling for 9 yards.
Kansas City has been remarkably effective in short-yardage situations this season, but opted for a wild formation that motioned Hollywood Brown into the backfield, the kind Reid usually saves for goal-line situations.
“It was a little similar last week when we threw the ball to [Jared] Wiley there,” Reid said. “We had run it a couple times [earlier in the game on short-yardage], so we came back and thought we had an answer with it. It didn’t work out the way we planned.”
Knowing a pass was coming on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs’ 31-yard line, cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. locked up Rashee Rice on his crossing route, knocking Mahomes’ pass away for a turnover on downs.
“I thought we could get it,” Reid said. “That was the decision. I was confident we could do that. ... I messed that one up.”
Six plays later, the Texans took the lead and, in the process, may have sunk Kansas City’s season.
“They did a good job on the fourth down of passing off the crosser,” Mahomes said. “I tried to get the ball to Rashee. I think I was a little late, and the guy made a great break on the ball. But you’ve just got to execute at a higher level in those moments.”
DROPS DOOM KC
The Chiefs, of course, still had their chances.
Reid rolled the dice on fourth down again the very next drive.
Mahomes threw a perfect ball for an easy conversion to Rice on fourth-and-4 from their own 41, but it went right through the third-year receiver’s hands for a second consecutive turnover on downs.
Kansas City’s defense forced a three-and-out to give the offense another crack at a comeback.
But another drop doomed the Chiefs.
After an incomplete pass to Travis Kelce on first down, Mahomes went back to the future Hall of Fame tight end.
Kelce failed to catch the ball cleanly, bobbling it into the air — a play reminiscent in some ways of the game-losing interception against Philadelphia in Week 2 — as linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair snagged it for Mahomes’ third interception of the game.
“He’s made that play 99% of the time, and I’ve got to give him a better chance with a ball, maybe more on his body,” Mahomes said.
Still wearing his jersey and pads, Kelce sat with his head in his lap and hands atop his head when I entered the locker room. He didn't say much to his fellow tight ends after showering and while getting dressed.
Houston bled the clock over the next seven plays before Ka’imi Fairbairn iced the game with a 28-yard field goal.
Rice, who finished with four catches for 34 yards on eight targets, left the locker room before the media was allowed in, and Kelce, who had only one catch for 8 yards on five targets, declined an interview request.
“Listen, these are great players,” Reid said. “We’ve got to make sure we catch the ball. They know that, and they’re trying. It’s not a lack of effort there. The ball went through their hands and," he paused, "it happens.”
But don't expect Mahomes to lose trust in Kelce or Rice.
“I’m going to go to those guys in big moments,” Mahomes said. “Those guys have made plays in Super Bowls, they’ve made plays in AFC Championship Games. Obviously, it didn’t go our way today, but I have a lot to do with that myself.”
The three picks tied Mahomes’ career-worst game. It’s the fourth time in his career he’s thrown three interceptions in a game.
Mahomes finished 14 of 33 for 160 yards with no touchdowns — his third game this season without a TD, which is tied for the most such games in any season of his career (2021).
The 160 passing yards are the fifth-fewest he's thrown for in a game, including the 2019 game when he suffered a dislocated kneecap and three games last season (Cincinnati, San Francisco and Cleveland).
NO LOVE FROM LONG BALL
Mahomes threw an inch-perfect bomb on a 50-yard deep post to Tyquan Thornton late in the third quarter, but he couldn’t hang onto it in the end zone.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, he underthrew a bomb deep down the left sideline intended for Brown, but it fluttered well short of the intended receiver.
It didn’t do much other than flip the field, but those two plays were emblematic of the season-long struggles for Kansas City.
CHIEFS SHUT OUT IN FIRST HALF
The Chiefs were shut out in the first half for the first time this season, but one doesn’t have to go back too far to figure out the last time it happened in any game.
Philadelphia led Kansas City 24-0 en route to a lopsided Super Bowl LVIII win about 10 months ago in New Orleans.
The Chiefs managed only 98 total yards and eight first downs in the first two quarters.
Mahomes went 8 of 12 for 58 yards with an interception — a pass over the middle intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster, which safety Jalen Pitre undercut and tipped in the air to himself — and was sacked twice as the Texans built a 10-0 lead.
Harrison Butker missed a 43-yard field goal in the closing minute of the second quarter, keeping the Chiefs scoreless.
Kansas City erased Houston’s halftime lead with a 10-point third quarter.
DEFENSE DOMINATES THIRD QUARTER
Give credit to the defense for allowing the comeback.
Stroud went 0 for 8, and the Texans’ offense managed minus-2 yards in the third quarter.
“We came in at halftime, and we just didn’t like the mentality we played with,” said linebacker Nick Bolton, who finished with game highs for tackles (12) and tackles for a loss (two). “It started out up front with 95 (defensive tackle Chris Jones), who got going. The first six or seven plays, he dominated the line of scrimmage, and we just fed off his energy.”
Things changed after Reid’s fourth-down gamble failed early in the fourth quarter.
Stroud was 3 of 4 for 32 yards in the fourth quarter, while Mahomes was 2 of 11 for 29 yards with two interceptions.
Houston only outgained Kansas City 69-44 in the fourth quarter, but that was more than enough to pull away for the win.
Still, it was a strong showing from the defense.
“We were able to see what they were doing, make some adjustments as a defense and get after it,” said Jones, who recorded his fourth sack of the season.
BOOTH REVIEW CHALLENGE?
During the first quarter, an expedited replay review gave Houston a first down.
Jayden Higgins had been marked short of the line to gain by officials on the field, correctly video would show, but a booth review told the officials to move it forward and give the Texans a new set of downs.
Reid challenged the play, which seemed an odd choice, but the booth review was overturned — without Reid having to burn a challenge — upon second, or perhaps third, glance.
“That one they goofed,” Reid said. “They said it; they mishapped on their replay. But they corrected [it] and gave that one back to me, so we’re OK.”
BILL MAAS GOES INTO RING OF HONOR
Bill Maas, the 1984 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and a two-time Pro Bowl nose tackle for the Chiefs in the 1980s and early 1990s, saw his name added to the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime.
Maas, a Philadelphia native who Kansas City picked No. 5 overall from Pittsburgh in the 1984 NFL Draft, played nine of his 10 seasons with the Chiefs.
He racked up 40 sacks with 11 forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries and two safeties in 130 games with Kansas City.
Maas retired in 1993 after finishing his career with one season in Green Bay.
INJURY REPORT
The Chiefs suffered more attrition on the line of scrimmage on the very first snap.
Kansas City entered the game without three starters up front after right guard Trey Smith (ankle) and right tackle Jawaan Taylor (triceps/knee) were inactive. Left tackle Josh Simmons had been placed on injured reserve earlier in the week.
Things got worse when Wanya Morris suffered a knee injury and left the game on the first play from scrimmage.
“They battled,” Reid said of the patchwork offensive line. “There were some early hiccups in there, but they battled against one of the best defensive lines in the league. So, it was respectable.”
Later in the first half, cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee) also left the game, while Chubb (ribs) got knocked from the game for the Texans.
Reid said Morris had a lower-leg injury after the game and called McDuffie’s injury a hyperextension. It's unclear if either will be available next Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers.
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