7 Chiefs to blame for a close, frustrating loss to the Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs lost 22-19 on the road to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, dropping yet another one-score game — and this time, it was a one-score loss that might spell doom for a team that's appeared in three consecutive Super Bowls. One year after a miraculous 12-0 record in one-score games, the 2025 Chiefs are 0-5 in such contests, and it's essentially put the team's playoff hopes on life support. Never count a Patrick Mahomes team out, but Kansas City's reign as the AFC West kings is a thing of the past. This team might sneak into a Wild Card spot, but this loss was the nail in the coffin for an AFC West championship.

So, uhh...what happened? Not, like, in the grand scheme of things, but specifically in Sunday's game against Denver. Who deserves the blame for Kansas City's loss?

Here are the Kansas City Chiefs players (and non-players) who deserve at least some of the blame for Sunday's loss.

Patrick Mahomes

Look, we're starting with the biggest name, even if he's not the biggest culprit. No one is above criticism, right?

Yes, the lack of a run game forced the Chiefs to rely heavily on Patrick Mahomes, and the more you rely on a player, the better chance they make a mistake. Still, Mahomes is supposed to be a model of composure, a guy who doesn't make mistakes. But whew, his third-quarter interception was a rough one.

Mahomes constantly does "too much" when he's on the field, but it's usually fine because he's just so talented that he can get away with most things. But, like...dude, what was this? You don't always have to try to make a play! Throw this one away and let Harrison Butker come in to kick the field goal. Don't just telegraph a pass directly to the defender on the sideline in the red zone in a tie game!

Running backs who aren't named Kareem Hunt

Non-Kareem Hunt running backs on the Kansas City Chiefs roster combined for zero carries and four targets on Sunday. Obviously, playcalling is part of that, but the fact that Andy Reid didn't design touches for Brashard Smith and Elijah Mitchell also speaks to a lack of trust in those two players, which is a shame because both should be able to carve out roles with Isiah Pacheco sidelined.

Smith looks more and more like a project, which the Chiefs just don't have time for. Mitchell — man, I don't even know. He'd been a healthy scratch all season before this game despite being a fairly decent running back in San Francisco before missing all of last season with a hamstring injury. Maybe that hamstring injury was just really bad? But yeah, the fact that the Chiefs have no running backs outside of Hunt that they can rely on really ups the pressure on Mahomes. Most years, that might be fine, but this year appears to be an exception to that.

Kareem Hunt, but not for what he did on the ground

I keep watching the replay of the final sack that Mahomes took on Sunday and I keep thinking, "what is Kareem Hunt doing?"

Look: I don't know the blocking assignments for the Chiefs, but Hunt stays in the middle of the field here and, like, throws his body in to double one of the charging Broncos before realizing "oh, ****, that dude's blitzing." Hunt quickly turns to run back toward the blitzing Ja'Quan McMillian, but he's simply too far out of the play to do anything about it. McMillian gets to Mahomes and the Chiefs are forced to punt. They never touched the ball again.

The sack isn't necessarily on Hunt, but he was the only free blocker for the Chiefs on the play and he ended up blocking the wrong player. Even if he was just following the play call, the image of Hunt flailing as he tries to catch McMillian from behind feels like one of the defining images of this game.

Kristian Fulton

This was Kristian Fulton's first game since Week 2. It probably would have been better for the Chiefs if Fulton had just stayed on the sidelines. The veteran corner had been a healthy scratch for weeks, but for some reason the Chiefs decided to give him extensive snaps this weekend.

His worst moment? Getting burned by Troy Franklin on a third-and-eight in the third quarter. That kept the Broncos drive alive, and the drive ended in Denver's only touchdown of the game. Would a different corner have stopped Franklin? Debatable, but it couldn't have gone worse than it did in reality.

Harrison Butker

Harrison Butker had a PAT blocked in the fourth quarter. He also gave the Broncos a short field in the second quarter after a kickoff that didn't land in the landing zone.

These things did not cost the Chiefs the game. The blocked PAT doesn't change anything except turning a three-point Broncos win into a two-point Broncos win. The penalty gave Denver good field position, but the Broncos had to punt anyway and the Chiefs went on a 16-play, 77-yard drive after that that resulted in a field goal. So, like...Butker didn't cost Kansas City the game.

But it just feels like Butker's making more mistakes than usual this year, right? And while those mistakes weren't the reason Kansas City lost, they are emblematic of this team's struggles in 2025, as overall the Chiefs have just felt sloppy all year, with Butker being part of that sloppiness.

Andy Reid

Andy Reid calls the plays. Andy Reid decided to barely run the football. Andy Reid deserves blame for that. I don't have anything else to say on this point.

Brett Veach

Finally, let's zoom out and talk about Brett Veach. The Chiefs general manager put this team together, so he deserves the blame for when things go poorly, right?

This week, Veach especially deserves blame for his inaction at the trade deadline. The Chiefs reportedly offered the Jets a fourth-round pick for running back Breece Hall, but the Jets wanted a third. That was too rich for Veach, and the Chiefs ended up not upgrading what's been a failed run game.

Is a third a lot to give up for a running back in the modern NFL? Sure! Is running back the biggest issue on this team? I mean...it might be, but it's not 100 percent running back. Should Veach have dealt a third for Hall anyway? YES. YES, HE SHOULD HAVE. Kansas City might be in the final year of its current window with Travis Kelce retirement rumors swirling. Giving up a third for an elite running back would have gone a long way toward fixing this offense, but Veach balked at the price. On Sunday, we got to see the on-field ramifications of that. If Hall had been out there for Kansas City, the Chiefs wouldn't have been guaranteed to win this game, but they'd have at least had a far better shot at the win.

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