Chiefs vs. Cardinals: Full Report Card Grades for Kansas City
You can talk about the questionable officiating all you want. But at the end of the day, the Kansas City Chiefs have no one to blame but themselves.
Despite a 14-6 lead at halftime, the Chiefs were shut out 11-0 in the second half as the Arizona Cardinals came back to win.
From coaching to the performance on the field, there is plenty of blame to go around. The Chiefs drop their third straight game, fall to 7-6 and find themselves a little bit more behind in the wild-card race.
Here are Kansas City's grades following a 17-14 loss Sunday in Arizona.
Quarterback
1 of 11
We can all agree that Alex Smith has limited talent around him. Even though he makes errors of his own, the fact that Jamaal Charles and Travis Kelce are his only reliable players forces us to be considerate with his grading.
At the same time, Smith led an offense to zero points in the second half after coming out of halftime with a 14-6 lead.
One moment where Smith hurt the team was when Andy Reid wanted to go for it on fourth down. Smith had Charles wide-open on the right side, but he did not look in his direction, and the Chiefs turned the ball over on downs.
Although Smith finally cracked a pass for more than 40 yards, there were still some questionable passes made by Smith.
Smith is known to take care of the ball and make some plays with his feet, but he continues to be limited in what he can do to help the team. Perhaps the talent around him plays a factor in that.
Grade: C-
Running Back
2 of 11
Even against the sixth-best rush defense in the NFL, the Chiefs succeeded on the ground, running for 126 yards as a majority of them came from Charles.
When Charles missed part of the game due to an injury, he came back and scored another touchdown for the Chiefs. In fact, Charles was the only player who scored a touchdown for the Chiefs and remains Kansas City's top productive player.
Despite being the most prominent player, Reid limited Charles to just 10 rushes and 12 total touches overall.
It continues to be a mystery, but more touches for Charles will result in more production for the offense.
Grade: A
Tight End
3 of 11
Tight end Travis Kelce had his best game and owns the team's first 100-yard receiving game of the season. He pulled in seven catches for 110 yards. Kelce came through late in the game to help the Chiefs try and come back, but it was not enough.
Many will add that the tight ends seemed to fall on the wrong end with calls from the officials. Kelce was originally ruled down in the fourth quarter, but after another look, the officials called it a fumble and gave the football to the Cardinals.
However, every team will get a couple of bad calls and must play through them.
Grade: B+
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Wide Receiver
4 of 11
Jason Avant pulled in a 41-yard catch, which is the only catch that has gone for 40 yards for the Chiefs this year. The wide receivers were a little bit more active than usual in this game, but it was not enough to get the job done.
When the Chiefs went pass-heavy in the second half, Smith and the receiving corps were not in uniform with passes either overthrown or underthrown.
Avant led the wide receivers on the team in catches with five and yards with 64. Albert Wilson contributed more than normal, while Dwayne Bowe was quiet with just two catches.
Grade: C
Offensive Line
5 of 11
Ten years ago, the Chiefs were spoiled with arguably one of the best group of offensive linemen to ever play. Sunday, Kansas City's offensive line is the complete opposite of what the franchise had a decade ago under Dick Vermeil.
Whether it is allowing sacks or committing penalties, the line has done few favors for Smith and Charles. The line allowed five sacks Sunday, adding to a grand total of 38 sacks for Smith. Eric Fisher, Mike McGlynn and Donald Stephenson are guilty members who have hurt Kansas City's offense. Behind the poor play-calling, the line has played a role in the team's three-game losing streak.
Former Chiefs defensive tackle Bill Maas said on 610 Sports Radio-KC following the game that it is apparent that the Smith does not trust his line.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
6 of 11
Kansas City's defensive line was challenged by Arizona's rushing game, which finished with 141 yards on the ground. Defensive linemen Kevin Vickerson and Vance Walker had an up-and-down game in stopping the run. Nose tackle Dontari Poe had not allowed big runs through the middle.
Poe also broke through the middle at times while trying to apply pressure on Stanton, but the Chiefs are showing that they miss Mike DeVito and Allen Bailey.
Grade: B-
Linebacker
7 of 11
Justin Houston continues to shine as he logs a pair of sacks and increases his league-leading sack total to 16. Even on plays when Houston did not get a sack, he applied pressure on Stanton throughout the game and forced him to throw a lot of ill-advised passes. Houston played a hand in Stanton's 50 percent completion percentage. Tamba Hali came through with a couple of pressure plays of his own.
As for the rest of the linebackers, it was not a good game.
Josh Mauga was inconsistent as he had an easy opportunity to come up with an interception. James-Michael Johnson also struggled against the run.
Joe Mays had a couple of stops to prevent the Chiefs from getting gashed, but even he ran into a couple of problems in the game.
Like the defensive line, this unit is slowly showing that it misses Derrick Johnson.
Grade: B-
Secondary
8 of 11
Kansas City's secondary has had a roller-coaster season. But during the three-game losing streak, the defensive backs have been beat by opposing offenses.
Jaron Brown beat Ron Parker on a play, which allowed him to make a pass and get in the end zone to give Arizona its sole touchdown play of the game. Outside of the touchdown, Stanton completed just 15 passes but moved well through the air for 239 yards.
With a very thin group of cornerbacks and Eric Berry out for the season, the defensive backs have no playmakers, which bodes well for opposing wide receivers.
The only thing the secondary has to rely on is a strong pass rush.
Grade: C
Special Teams
9 of 11
De'Anthony Thomas had three punt returns and mustered only four yards. Thomas and Knile Davis shined a little bit in the kick-return game, but that has been a non-factor this year, which is surprising under Dave Toub.
Dustin Colquitt came through when needed, coming through with four punts and averaging more than 49 yards per punt.
There was nothing flashy from this unit as Cairo Santos was never called upon to attempt a field goal.
Grade: B
Coaching
10 of 11
The hope from Chiefs fans and the media was that Reid would review his play calls, but it appeared we saw a repeat of last week. Poor coaching has led to a three-game losing streak.
Reid gave Charles just 10 carries and 12 total touches. Yes, Charles did leave the game at one point in the first half due to an injury. However, Charles came back and scored his second touchdown. He was Kansas City's only touchdown scorer, yet Reid continues to play "keep away" with his best player.
Reid might say on Monday in a press conference that he wishes he gave the ball to Charles more. But at that point, it is too late, and the bad coaching has derailed Kansas City's chances at making the playoffs.
Grade: F
Overall
11 of 11
QB: C-
RB: A
TE: B+
WR: C
OL: F
DL: B-
LB: B-
DB: C
ST: B
Coaching: F
Cumulative: C-
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