What is Arrowhead Pride Premier? Arrowhead Pride Premier is our tri-weekly newsletter, one that provides analysis and exclusive insights directly from Arrowhead Stadium, delivered straight to your inbox. Below is a preview of the latest edition.
Good morning to the 11-1 Chiefs
BY PETE SWEENEY
The Kansas City Chiefs did it again.
Given the infinite narratives surrounding this team, that could mean many things, but on Friday evening, it meant another close win against a bad football team. In this week’s case, it was a 19-17 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, one that took a fumble to ward off the latest last-minute comeback attempt.
A week after Kansas City scored on its first five possessions, points were a little more difficult to come by against the Raiders. After an opening-drive field goal, the Chiefs punted twice before eventually finding the end zone – a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes to wide receiver Justin Watson.
Following the half, two field goals gave the Chiefs a 16-3 lead late in the third quarter – and though it had not been pretty, the game had the feel of one at hand. That was until back-to-back 30-plus-yard touchdowns by Las Vegas to give them a 1-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Chiefs would score a field goal on the very next possession, but the third-and-5 play preceding it sent Mahomes to the breaking point. Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby whizzed by left tackle Wanya Morris, leading to evident frustration from the quarterback, as protection breakdowns became a theme of the game.
And that’s where we’ll begin the things I think about this team stemming from the Raiders’ game.
I think we just witnessed Wanya Morris’ last start in 2024.
A week before the Chiefs suited up against the Raiders, they signed veteran offensive tackle DJ Humphries, a 2021 Pro Bowler with 98 starts to his name. The hope within the organization was that Morris would continue to play adequately, and if he didn’t, Kansas City would have an answer ready in waiting.
Humphries wasn’t quite ready on Sunday, and so he was inactive for the game. Still, the play above highlighting Morris’ failure led head coach Andy Reid to admit he had finally seen enough. Reid broke the proverbial emergency glass, sliding left guard Joe Thuney over to tackle and inserting Mike Caliendo at left guard.
“Wanya, he was struggling a little bit, so I moved Joe over there, Caliendo in at guard. I thought it was the right thing to do at that time, talked to (offensive line coach) Andy [Heck] about it. He agreed with it, and so we made that move, just to solidify things. Pat took a few hits there, and so we were struggling at times.”
If you follow Reid as closely as we do at Arrowhead Pride, you know that’s about as far as he’ll go when it comes to publicly calling out a player.
Morris sounded discouraged but understood the coach’s decision.
“[I’ve] got to be better, man,” said Morris in the locker room. “Got to be better in certain situations, just overall. Obviously, it’s good to get the W, but I’m disappointed in myself because I know I’m better than that, and I can perform better than that. So, I apologize to my teammates – they did a good job lifting me up. At the end of the day, got to go out there and do better.”
Morris is unlikely to get that chance again in 2024, and I have my questions about whether he will ever get it at the left tackle position, period.
I fully expect the Chiefs to turn to Humphries next Sunday night against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football. We know the 10-year veteran (who hasn’t played since Week 17 of last season) is champing at the bit.
“My body’s fine,” said Humphries on Wednesday. “Whenever coach Reid says, ‘It’s time to go,’ that’s when I’ma go… wherever he tells me, ‘It’s go time,’ I’m jumping off for sure.”
What else is in this edition?
- Pete has two more thoughts on the Chiefs’ Week 13 win over the Raiders.
- Jared Sapp examines what exactly happened on the game’s final sequence as Las Vegas squandered away a game-winning field goal opportunity.
- In his first look at the film, for the second week in a row, Ron Kopp takes a close look at why the pass defense has become a liability.
Editors Show preview
Here is a clip from last week’s Editors Show featuring Pete Sweeney and John Dixon.
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- Brandon Kiley has returned as a Tuesday columnist. Here’s an excerpt from his words last week:
Well, that’s not what I envisioned when I imagined a Steve Spagnuolo defense facing Bryce Young and that Carolina Panthers offense.
27 points? 21 first downs? What gives?
Sure, Young has shown some signs of life, but this is an offense that ranks in the bottom three in the league in nearly every meaningful offensive category. The Panthers had only scored more than 24 points in a game once in Young’s career before his outburst on Sunday against the Chiefs.
This was supposed to be the get-right game for the Chiefs’ defense, and it looked like more of the same.
The Chiefs defense has only allowed at least 24 points seven times since the start of last season. Three of those seven games have taken place in November, and the Chiefs still have another game to play before this month is over.
This is becoming a trend, one the Chiefs need to correct.
It feels a bit simplistic to suggest the Chiefs’ defensive malaise can be traced back to Jaylen Watson’s injury, but it also feels extremely accurate. Watson’s injury took place in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers. At the time, the Chiefs had only allowed more than 20 points in a game once all season.
They’ve allowed more than 20 points in three of the five games since.
- In our preview newsletter on Thursdays, Pete shares his three thoughts heading into the game, Rocky Magaña highlights a pivotal matchup to watch — and John Dixon shares some background on one of the upcoming game’s biggest storylines.
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