KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs suffered a series of losses Sunday night in Green Bay beyond falling to the Packers 27-19. The team finished the game with three starters on the sideline, the most significant involving safety Bryan Cook.
With 9:17 left in the third quarter, Cook appeared to slide as he went to make a tackle on Packers running back A.J. Dillon. Cook appeared to roll his left ankle underneath the weight of his own body. NBC declined to show a replay of the injury due to the sensitive nature of the play. Cook was carted off the field, and head coach Andy Reid said after the game the team’s medical staff was still examining his ankle.
Backup safety Mike Edwards took over for Cook as the free safety on the backside of the defense.
Cook’s injury wasn’t the only loss on the defensive side of the ball. Linebacker Drue Tranquill played only seven snaps on the opening drive of the game. He left the contest after hitting his head against the knee of Dillon while making a tackle. He is in the league’s concussion protocol.
Tranquill was replaced at the middle linebacker position by Jack Cochrane, who also assumed the role of the defensive play caller and received the communications from the sideline.
Left tackle Donovan Smith, who suffered a second stinger injury last week against Las Vegas, briefly left the contest in the first half after reaggravating the injury. He returned on the next drive but later left the game for good at halftime. Rookie Wanya Morris filled in for Smith on both occasions and played the entire second half at left tackle.
Patrick Mahomes praised both Morris for filling in and Smith for gutting through injuries.
“Donovan is battling out there, trying to do his best to be out there for his teammates,” Mahomes said. “I think the coaches just kind of said, ‘Hey, let’s let it heal up and let’s let someone else go in there and try to take over and play while you can get healthy.’ I’m proud of (Morris), man. That’s a big spot in a big game in a great stadium, and he stepped up, man, in the run game, pass game.”
Running back Isiah Pacheco, safety Justin Reid and defensive end Charles Omenihu each briefly left the game after getting attention from the athletic training staff but both soon returned to the game.
Big Game, Big Blowup
Pacheco had a busy night for the Chiefs but his final moment on the field is one he would like to have back.
The 24-year-old running back turned in the third 100-yard game of his career, rushing 18 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also added three catches for 13 yards.
But with less than a minute to play, Pacheco tangled up with Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon at the end of a play. Rashee Rice caught a pass from Patrick Mahomes for a 10-yard gain but fumbled the end of the play. Nixon blocked Pacheco to the ground during the fumble return, and the two continued to push and shove until Pacheco threw a punch at Nixon.
While a replay review reversed the call on the field and restored possession to the Chiefs, Pacheco received a 15-yard personal foul penalty with disqualification from the game. The penalty pushed the Chiefs back from the Green Bay 35-yard line to midfield with 50 seconds left to play.
“You can’t do that,” Andy Reid said after the game. “You need to be more composed in that even though the guy shoved his head into the dirt. You have to stay composed on it.”
Mahomes said the Chiefs were already in a bad position before the penalty but that he loves his running back’s fire.
“I never want to take the passion away from a guy,” Mahomes said. “He’ll learn from it. I’m sure he won’t make that mistake again. That’s the stuff that we need on this team in order to have the success that we want to have.”
Defensive Struggles
The Chiefs defense entered the game ranked third in the NFL in allowing just 16.5 points per game and was the only team in the league to not allow more than 24 points in any game this season.
That streak came to an end Sunday night as the Chiefs yielded season-highs of 27 points and 382 total yards. The Packers also converted 5-of-10 third-down opportunities, matching the team’s season-worst defensive performance in that category. The Raiders were successful on 7-of-14 third downs last week against Kansas City. The Chiefs also lost the turnover battle 1-0.
“You got to get off the field on defense, you got to stay on the field on offense and not shoot ourselves,” Reid said. “Listen, that’s my responsibility for that. We got to be better prepared to take care of that stuff right there. You do that and then you can win a game. But in this league, there is too much parity. They are well-coached. They have good players. You come out and self-destruct like that in certain areas, then you have a problem.”
Rice Moves On Up
Rashee Rice continued demonstrating his growing comfort in the offense with eight catches for the second game in a row and matching his career high. His 64 yards receiving also helped him shoot up the leaderboard for the most receiving yards for a rookie in franchise history.
Rice began the day ranked No. 14 but finished the game at No. 6. He passed Stephone Paige, Elmo Wright, Lake Dawson, Mecole Hardman, Tony Moeaki, Walter White, Tim Barnett and Abner Hayes. He now has 591 yards receiving on the season, leaving him just 2 yards shy of Tyreek Hill’s rookie season.
Ahead for Rice to shoot for next: No. 1 on the list is Dwayne Bowe (995 in 2007) followed by Chris Burford (789, 1960), Sylvester Morris (678, 2000) and Johnny Robinson (611, 1960).
Butker Buttkicking
Kicker Harrison Butker kept his perfect season intact with two field goals and extra point, and he’s the only kicker in the NFL still perfect through 12 games.
His 34-yard field goal late in the first half was his 23rd consecutive field goal made, tying his own franchise record set in 2017. He’s also gone 13 straight regular season games without missing a field goal. It’s the second time he’s pulled off that feat in his career (2020-2021). Pete Stoyanovich also matched that streak in 1997.
With the advent of the 17-game schedule, Butker has a chance of setting an NFL record. The record for most games to start a season without a missed goal or PAT is 16 shared by Gary Anderson (1998) and Mike Vanderjagt (2003). Vanderjagt (15 in 2014) also owns the third-longest streak, followed by Jason Elam (14 in 1998) Butker is currently tied for the fifth-longest streak of 12 games along with Norm Johnson (1993) and Justin Tucker (2016).
What’s Next?
It’s a somewhat normal week for the Chiefs starting Monday with Reid visiting with reporters via Zoom for his weekly press conference. The team returns to the practice field on Wednesday to begin preparations to host the Buffalo Bills next Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium for a 3:25 p.m. kickoff.
