Kansas City's Inability to Finish Games Began in 2013, Still an Issue Today

Good teams simply play good football, while great teams learn how to finish games in tight situations. If you have to decide whether the Chiefs belong in the “good” or “great” category, it is evident with their inability to finish games that they should be labeled as a good team. Not great.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made a point of emphasis before the 2014 season that his players must learn how to finish games. 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City tweeted before the regular season that Reid mentioned the topic of finishing games and how it is a big thing the team learned the hard way last year.

The Chiefs pulled out narrow wins against the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans in 2013 during the team’s 9-0 start. But against playoff teams, the Chiefs struggled under pressure on five different occasions when games came down to the wire, including the 28-point collapse against Indianapolis in the playoffs.

Following the postseason loss, it was universally known that the Chiefs must find a way to wrap up games going into 2014. Quarterback Alex Smith even commented on the topic when asked about it, according to Kansas First News, saying the Chiefs are working on finishing.

So far this year, the Chiefs had two opportunities on the road to finish on late drives. With an opportunity to tie (or win, if they go for two points after the potential touchdown) against Denver and a chance to win this past week against San Francisco, the Chiefs failed to do either in both games.

Prior to suffering a season-ending injury, inside linebacker Derrick Johnson told SiriusXM NFL Radio that the team must finish games stronger this year and opponents will have to take games from the Chiefs. So far, the Chiefs haven’t proved they can finish, and the Broncos and 49ers were able to prevent them from winning when they had the opportunity to do so.

Smith led the Chiefs on an 11-play drive during the team’s final possession of the game in Week 2 against the Broncos. After the defense allowed only three points in the second half, Smith and the offense were presented with a golden opportunity.

But on the final two plays at Denver’s 2-yard line, the Chiefs could never find the end zone, and the Broncos survived with a big divisional win.

Even when Kansas City hurt itself many times throughout the second half, the defense stood strong and forced the 49ers to kick a field goal late in the game, making it a five-point game with 2:12 to go.

But on Kansas City’s first play of the final drive, Smith overthrows tight end Anthony Fasano as 49ers cornerback Perrish Cox seals the game with an interception.

The Chiefs brutally lost the time-of-possession battle in the fourth quarter, with the 49ers holding on with 13 minutes and 16 seconds to the Chiefs’ one minute and 44 seconds.

It was discussed and practiced by the team in training camp, but the Chiefs have proved that they cannot finish football games. Since Reid’s arrival, the Chiefs are 0-7 against playoff teams in games that come down to the wire.

ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher reported that for the second time this year, Reid regrets not giving the football more often to running back Jamaal Charles, the team’s best player and the top scorer in 2013 among all non-kickers. This comes in the just one month after Reid admitted he was negligent in not getting the ball to Charles in Week 1.

There is a lot of blame to go around for Kansas City’s incompetence to put a lid on games. For Reid, excluding one of the biggest weapons in the NFL hurt his team twice.

On Monday Night Football against the New England Patriots, Charles and backup running back Knile Davis combined for 199 yards, eventually lifting the Chiefs to a crushing 41-14 win.

We all saw tight end Travis Kelce make a major impact, and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe also came through to help move the offense. Perhaps that got Reid excited and made him think it could happen again.

It is clear that the Chiefs, when in uniform and focused, have talent all across the offense and can play well. But at the end of the day, Charles remains the team’s best player and must be No. 1 in the game plan.

Reid admitted twice about his coaching errors in not giving the football more to Charles.

However, it is an easy fix. Just a simple tweak to the game plan and the play-calling is all Reid has to do to make sure Charles gets more touches.

Some Chiefs fans on social media have been vocal in calling for Reid's job, but this is not a firable offense. In fact, let’s not forget that Reid brought relevancy and revamped the franchise last year.

If Reid makes those simple adjustments and gets Charles more involved, the Chiefs will be better and will find a way to capitalize while trying to close out games.

For now, because they have not been able to do that, they should only be tabbed a good team at best.

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