The
Kansas City Chiefs’ mistakes proved costly and insurmountable in the 31-28 loss to the
Jacksonville Jaguars on “Monday Night Football” in Week 5, despite doing a lot of the things that typically accompany a win.
The Chiefs won the turnover battle, 2-1. They outgained the Jaguars by 157 yards. So, how did they lose this game? Well, it all starts with a lack of discipline. On the night, they had 13 penalties for 109 yards. To understand just how uncharacteristic it is for Kansas City to have that many penalties in a single game, you’ve got to go back over 2,500 days to find the last time it happened. It was in Week 11 of the 2018 NFL season against the
Los Angeles Rams in a 54-51 loss that was one of the highest-scoring games in league history.The Chiefs’ 13 penalties in Week 5 vs. the Jaguars were the most in a single game since their 54-51 loss to the Rams in Week 11 of 2018.“We obviously had 13 penalties to their four,” Chiefs HC Andy Reid told reporters following the game. “Whether I agree with them or don’t agree with them, it doesn’t matter. They called them. And so you have that many penalties. You give up field position, you can outstat them to death, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a score that matters, and we’ve got to take care of business there.”The penalty problems weren’t just a matter of the usual suspects for the Chiefs, either.
Jawaan Taylor was called for a single penalty, but it wasn’t his fault as WR Tyquan Thornton was misaligned on the play. One phase of the game actually seemed to have the most costly penalty-related errors for Kansas City.
Chiefs STC Dave Toub’s special teams unit owns a big chunk of this loss
While every phase made too many mistakes on Monday, the penalties from special teams were especially painful and uncharacteristic of the team. The Chiefs had four special teams penalties during Monday night’s loss. You’ve got to go all the way back to Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season to find the last time that Dave Toub’s unit had such an undisciplined showing.
Several of the penalties were backbreakers for the offense and defense, turning good field position opportunities into poor field position.
Jack Cochrane owes rookie RB Brashard Smith in a big way. His first holding penalty erased a 63-yard gain on kickoff return by Smith. Cochrane’s second holding penalty erased a 34-yard gain by Smith.
Harrison Butker’s kick out of bounds set up the Jaguars at the 40-yard line on what would ultimately be their game-winning drive. This was the first game of the season where he didn’t miss a field goal or PAT, yet he committed his most egregious error of the season in this game.
