"We have to correct everything" - Chiefs OC on what Chiefs need to fix after 1-2 start
The Chiefs are 1-2 and having their worst September in half a decade. Head Coach Andy Reid spent some time in the hospital this weekend and Eric Bieniemy seems to have taken up the reins in his stead, preaching what needs to be fixed.
According to Chiefs Wire, the offensive coordinator answered questions from the media on Monday. In his responses, Beineimy was clear.
“You always want to make sure we’re doing a great job of protecting the football,” Bieniemy said of the pick. “Especially in those critical moments of the game. So, one thing that we do know, we just want to be smart. On top of that, making decisive decisions that are not going to put us in the situation where it becomes detrimental. When it’s all said and done with, we can take care of the ball a lot better, and if we’re taking care of the ball better, obviously we’re giving ourselves a chance to win.”
Chiefs have a problem on offense for the first time since start of Andy Reid era
The Chiefs have had costly turnovers late in their losses to the Ravens and Chargers. If those turnovers did not happen, the Chiefs would have been in position to win the game and likely would have finished with wins.
Instead, the Chiefs gave the Ravens and Chargers second chances and they capitalized.
Bieniemy wanted to make it clear that nis comments don't mean for the Chiefs to play afraid of committing turnovers.
Head Coach Andy Reid felt ill at the conclusion of the game. He was evaluated by our medical staff in the locker room, & as a precaution, was transported to The University of Kansas Health System for further evaluation. Coach is doing well, currently resting & in stable condition
“We work on protecting the ball every single day,” He explained. “That’s one thing we take a tremendous amount of pride in. But when it’s all said and done with, we don’t want our players going out there playing afraid of turning over the ball. We just need to make sure we’re focused in those intense moments where we don’t lose sight of ball security. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got two hands on the ball in traffic, two hands on it on the way down.
The Chiefs' offensive coordinator went on to talk about the receivers' need to catch more passes cleanly.
“On top of that, in certain situations we want to make sure we’re securing the catch. We never want to just throw an errant throw to put ourselves in a predicament where that team has an opportunity to put hands on the ball. So, those things are important.
After leading the league in offense last season, the Chiefs are currently ranked sixth in total offense. They trail the Las Vegas Raiders, who are ranked first. The team is in last place in the AFC West and will officially need a comeback in the division if they hope to emerge as the winners in the division in 2021.
The good thing is that we’re giving ourselves a chance to still be in play when the game is on the line, and if we eliminate just those mistakes, we will be sitting in a different position. But we are who we are right now because of the turnovers. We’re a 1-2 team, and so we have to correct everything, make sure we’re getting back on track and getting this thing going in the right direction moving forward.”
The season is young and the path ahead for the Chiefs is clear. If they can remove the turnovers from the equation, they could go right back to their winning ways. Of course, stopping turnovers could be just the opening of the can of worms that is keeping an electric offense from humming at full speed.