3 Chiefs who are on notice after embarrassing loss to Titans

2. L’Jarius Sneed, CB

When the Chiefs were succeeding with a patchwork defense in recent years, one of the big booms they got was late-round pick L’Jarius Sneed playing like an above-average cornerback as a rookie in the 2020 season. That really allowed Kansas City and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to execute the things they wanted to, even with somewhat limited personnel overall on that side of the ball.

Fast-forward to this season, though, and Sneed has been a shell of the player he was a year ago. The cornerback has not been a consistent coverage player and his shortcomings have heavily contributed to the fact that virtually any team the Chiefs have faced this season has been able to move the ball at will on them.

Against Tennessee, Sneed drew several matchups against A.J. Brown and was burned often. More than that, when he wasn’t burned, he also committed a costly defensive pass interference penalty on the Titans’ first drive of the game, which eventually led to a touchdown for the home team and, ultimately, set the tone for the Kansas City defense.

Few aspects of the secondary — if any — have been good for this team this season. However, after the pleasant surprise of Sneed last season, his play through the first seven games of the 2021 campaign have been a legitimate problem for this defense that can’t afford many more issues.