A second reflection on his team’s 19-12 loss to the Houston Texans did not give Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid a more rosy outlook on how his team played Sunday.
(Jake Gatchell/The Topeka Capital-Journal)
“We did some things that I thought were uncharacteristic,” Reid told the media during his weekly press conference. “Between dropped balls, penalties and assignments – it’s not the way we normally
operate. We have to put an end to that.”
The Chiefs filled the box score with plenty of mistakes against the Texans, committing three turnovers and nine penalties for 77 yards. They converted just 21 percent of the third downs, surrendered four sacks and lost the time of possession battle by nearly eight minutes.
The three fumbles proved costly, leading directly to 10 points for the Texans.
“That’s just not how we roll normally,” Reid said. “I was seeing things I’m not used to seeing.”
The Chiefs found themselves with a chance to tie the game late, despite the mental miscues. Reid classified the errors correctable, and thought the game Sunday winnable had the team played with its normal mindset.
“We’ve got to go back, those are fundamental things,” Reid said. “These are things that we can control and fix. To even think that we still had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter with that, that tells you a little bit.”
Rookie wide receiver Tyreek Hill nearly broke the team out of its doldrums late in the game. The Texans tacked on a field goal to take a 19-9 lead with 2:56 remaining in the fourth quarter. Hill took the ensuing kickoff from his own end zone and and raced 105 yards for an apparent touchdown.
But officials flagged cornerback Steven Nelson for a questionable holding call against Texans’ cornerback Charles James II, bringing the line of scrimmage all the way back to the Chiefs’ 12-yard line.
Reid did not believe the penalty that questionable – he thinks James flopped to draw the foul.
“Now obviously from the official’s perspective, it didn’t look like that,” Reid explained. “That official has been doing it a long time, is a pretty good official. But that one in the NBA would have probably been considered a flop.”
Reid found another bright spot in the team’s at-times maligned run defense. The Chiefs held Houston to just 97 yards on 34 carries, a scant 2.9-yard average.
“I thought we did a respectable job there,” Reid said. “Are there a few calls we’d like to have back? Yeah. I thought we played on the other side of the ball. The linebackers filled the gaps well and we tackled well.”
The Chiefs now move forward with preparations for Sunday’s matchup with the New York Jets. The team evened its record at 1-1 with a 37-31 victory Thursday night over the Buffalo Bills.
Reid did not rule out the possibility the Chiefs could have the services of Jamaal Charles for the first time this season against the Jets.
“Last week he wasn’t ready, he wasn’t quite there, but he’s getting there,” Reid said. “He said he felt like he made a lot of improvement last week, and that was earlier in the week.”
The Chiefs continue taking abundant caution with Charles. Part of that prudence comes with ensuring the veteran All-Pro does not suffer a setback as returns from his second ACL surgery.
Reid said the team wants Charles in peak condition when he returns.
“He looked good last week and you could see him getting in and out of his cuts well,” Reid explained.
“He looked like ‘Jamaal’. It’s a matter of the endurance, his security and how he feels about it. And then of course what the doctors say.
“He can still scoot. He can do that.”
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com and the Topeka Capital-Journal. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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