3 Kansas City Chiefs to blame for ending winning streak vs. rival Broncos
By Kristen Wong
The Kansas City Chiefs got taken down by the Denver Broncos in Week 8, a painful 24-9 loss that serves as a Swift kick to the mouth to the Super Bowl hopefuls.
Make no mistake, the Chiefs are still the better team here. No one's disagreeing with that, except for maybe a few overzealous Broncos fans/Russ sympathizers who have "Let's Ride" tattooed on their lower back.
On Sunday afternoon, though, Denver was the better team -- and had some help from fate. Peyton Manning needed a little bit of luck (or a certain fumble) to roll his way to defeat the Chiefs all those years ago, and on Sunday, so did Russell Wilson.
Wilson and the Broncos only won because the Chiefs were bad. Specifically, these three Chiefs. We know that sounds like an ultimate sore loser comment, but it's true.
Here are three Chiefs to blame for breaking the winning streak and for giving Wilson a little more pep in his high knees.
Dave Toub and special teams
Mecole Hardman knows all too well what he did wrong in the loss to the Broncos, so no need to rub too much salt in the wound.
Coming off a great return performance against the Chargers, Hardman committed several gaffes that may have cost the Chiefs the game.
He muffed a punt in the fourth quarter that gave the Broncos the ball in the Chiefs' end zone, leading to a Denver touchdown and a two-score hole. He also chose to return a kick that was coming down to the five-yard-line, a questionable move that resulted in a longer field for the Chiefs offense. And still, at other points in the game, Hardman continued to make poor decisions as a returner. The little things built up, and it felt like Dave Toub's usually stout special teams unit was working against the Chiefs in Week 8.
Changing a returner mid-game would have dealt a massive blow to Hardman's confidence, but Toub shouldn't have just sat back and watched Hardman's mistakes snowball into a larger problem. Special teams often feels like an afterthought when you have an offense helmed by Patrick Mahomes. It shouldn't be, and Toub needs to get his unit in check. Mahomes can blame the flu this game. What does Toub have to blame?