For so long, we have become accustomed to the Kansas City Chiefs being one of the most buttoned-up teams in football. They never beat themselves.
Over the course of this season, however, we have seen Andy Reid's team suffer some self-inflicted wounds that have been detrimental and played a large part in their 5-5 record.
Against the Denver Broncos in Week 11, the Chiefs had a whopping 10 penalties, most of which came at the worst time and put the offense behind the sticks, or extended Denver's drives.
You just can't have it, and as Reid points out, against good teams, they make you pay.
“When you do it in crucial situations, that gets you, and then it's tough to overcome at times,” Reid said. “So, whether it's a third down and short or whether you're down at the two-yard line and you got to back up, those type of things come back and haunt you when you're playing good teams. You might be able to overcome it against a not very good team.
"But against good teams, you got to be sharp, and there's not a huge secret to that. So, you got to take care, and then as coaches, we got to make sure we're giving the guys the stuff that they can do the best at.”
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Chiefs' discipline key to Week 12 win
Putting it simply, the Chiefs can't have another 10 penalties against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12, and Patrick Mahomes can't throw a back-breaking interception near the red zone.
Otherwise, another defeat will likely be coming.
Kansas City knows what it has to do, but with so much pressure now on the franchise, given their current predicament, who knows how this team will react?
We have seen them fight through adversity before, but that was when they had a margin for error; they don't now, so will this Week 12 clash be another game that we look back on and say the Chiefs' self-inflicted wounds doomed them?
Reid surely hopes not.
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