The 2-3 Kansas City Chiefs have a lot to clean up before they host the 4-1 Detroit Lions on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 6. The Chiefs saw too many yellow flags go against them in a 31-28 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in front of 69,329 fans at EverBank Stadium on “Monday Night Football.”
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Penalties played a key role in the Chiefs giving up a 28-24 lead late in the fourth quarter. A defensive pass interference call against Chiefs safety Chamarri Conner wiped out what would have been a game-winning interception by safety Bryan Cook. One play later, Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence ran in for a one-yard touchdown.
The ensuing kickoff return by running back Brashard Smith appeared to give the Chiefs good field position at the Kansas City 36-yard line, but a holding penalty on linebacker Jack Cochrane put the ball at the 17-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. The flag made it nearly impossible for the Chiefs to get in field goal range, even with three timeouts.
Following the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gave a blunt assessment about the numerous calls that went against Kansas City.
“We had 13 penalties, to their four,” Reid said via Harold R. Kuntz of Fox 4. “Whether I agree with them or don’t agree with them, it doesn’t matter. They called them. So, you have that many penalties, you give up field position, you can out-stat them to death, but that doesn’t matter. It’s the score that matters.”
The Chiefs outgained the Jaguars 476-319 in total yards. However, Kansas City was flagged 13 times for 109 yards. Jacksonville was penalized four times for 25 yards.
The penalties weren’t the only miscues of the night for the Chiefs. In the third quarter, Patrick Mahomes threw an interception in the red zone that was returned 99 yards by linebacker Devin Lloyd.
After a slow start to the season, the Chiefs have an uphill battle to return to the postseason. If they do not play clean football against a hot Lions team that has won four straight, the defending AFC champions could be looking at a 2-4 record in mid-October.
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