The Chiefs are heading into their early bye week with a 30-27 win in Las Vegas in hand, but the tape gave them plenty to clean up. Kansas City survived a mistake-heavy afternoon against the Raiders, and the extra week before the Chargers come to Arrowhead on October 18 gives the staff time to fix some issues that showed up at the worst possible moments.
Creed Humphrey is the first name that jumps out. By plenty of measures, he’s viewed as the league’s best center, but Sunday brought another shaky stretch of snaps.
There were low snaps in Vegas, and one especially costly one came late, when the Chiefs were trying to finish off the game. With Kansas City up by double digits and the Raiders scrambling back into it, Humphrey fired another low snap that nearly turned into disaster.
Patrick Mahomes gathered it cleanly enough, but this one came out so poorly that it almost led to a turnover with 90 seconds left, and possibly even a scoop-and-score chance for Las Vegas.
Humphrey has built his reputation on consistency, and that’s why the mistakes stand out more now. The low snaps were already impossible to ignore after his rough game in Kansas City’s Super Bowl loss to the Eagles, and the price tag only adds to the pressure.
Before Tyler Linderbaum signed his three-year, $81 million deal in March, Humphrey was the league’s highest-paid center at $18,000,000 per year. When he’s the only player to touch the ball before Mahomes, the margin for error is razor thin.
The receiver room is another problem that suddenly feels much bigger. Tyquan Thornton’s ankle injury took away what had looked like a real breakthrough game, and for a moment it seemed like Mahomes had finally connected with a true deep threat for the first time since Tyreek Hill left for Miami four years ago. Then Rashee Rice went out earlier in the game with a hamstring injury, and the Chiefs were left staring at a depth chart that no longer includes a clear WR1 or WR2.
That leaves a lot on the shoulders of the younger group. Cyrus Allen, Jalen Royals, and Emmett Johnson are still new to Andy Reid’s famously complicated system, but that explanation has a shelf life.
Thornton is out for an extended period, and Kansas City needs someone to emerge quickly. Until Hill returns, if that keeps getting teased the way it has been, or the Chiefs add another receiver, the burden falls on the current group to do more.
Xavier Worthy is right in the middle of that conversation. He posted one of his better games against Vegas with four catches on seven targets for 70 yards, the fourth-highest total of his career, but 41 of those yards came on one first-quarter play.
Worthy has to become more than a gadget player, especially now that Thornton is sidelined.
The offensive line also deserves a hard look. Mahomes was hit eight times, including five by Maxx Crosby, and the Chiefs’ decision to bench Kingsley Suamataia raised more questions than answers.
Mike Caliendo replaced him and struggled, allowing one of Las Vegas’ two big sacks. If PFF rankings are the measuring stick, Caliendo finished with the fourth-worst pass-blocking grade, ahead of Jaylon Moore, whose day came against Crosby for three hours.
Whatever led to Suamataia’s benching, Kansas City needs that situation settled by the time Los Angeles arrives in two weeks, because Mahomes cannot afford another afternoon spent under that kind of pressure.
Dave Toub just misses the main list, but not because everything was clean. Special teams helped the Chiefs close the game, with Jeffrey Bassa’s peanut punch setting up Kansas City’s second touchdown in 25 seconds and helping stretch the lead late in the fourth.
The fake punt early also mattered, even without points attached, because it showed confidence in Matt Araiza and the possibility of using that look again in a bigger spot. Still, the discipline issues are real.
The special teams unit had been penalized nine times heading into Vegas, second-worst in the league behind Houston, and it added three more Sunday, including two illegal formation flags.
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