Travis Kelce had just finished a brief interview with reporters when he turned toward offensive teammates on his side of the locker room.
“I owe you guys one,” Kelce said minutes after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 21-17 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Chiefs tight end took a few more steps toward the door before leaning over to speak to receiver Justin Watson.
“Great game,” Kelce said.
“I’ve gotta be better,” Watson replied, shaking his head.
The interaction reflected the overall tenor from the Chiefs’ offensive players following a disappointing end to Monday’s contest. KC lost a 10-point halftime lead, failing to score in the second half for a third straight game.
When asked to diagnose the offense’s issues, Kelce’s focus went inward.
“I’ve got to be better,” Kelce said during a minute-long locker-room interview. “Just not playing up to the level that I have in the past. I’ve got to be better.”
When asked what stood out most about the game, Kelce said, “My fumble.”
That statistically was one of the most significant moments, with the win-probability calculator at rbsdm.com estimating that Kelce’s fourth-quarter turnover inside the Philadelphia 5-yard line was worth negative-4.9 points — the second-most impactful play of the game.
Kelce also conveyed that Philadelphia’s adjustments weren’t the reason the Chiefs failed to score any points after halftime.
“Turnovers and penalties on our half. It’s nothing that they did,” Kelce said. “It’s all us.”
The Chiefs had other positions that struggled Monday, too.
That included the receivers, who failed to come down with catches at critical times. The most notable was in the fourth quarter on a potential go-ahead drive, as Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropped a deep pass that would’ve gone for a 51-yard touchdown had he held on.
Valdes-Scantling wasn’t in the locker room to speak with reporters after the game.
“I’ve seen Marquez make that play 99 out of 100 times. That was just the one that he didn’t,” Watson said. “He’s a phenomenal player, and he’ll make that play for us next week or the next time it’s called upon.”
Overall, though, Watson remained disappointed by the production of the wideouts. The unit had a few drops and some miscommunications with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
“Not good enough,” Watson said, when asked to evaluate the Chiefs’ receivers. “We didn’t get a win. And we only look at our room, you know? We don’t look at the offensive line or quarterback as a room.
“The receivers, we look internally. So every week, it’s on us to either win or lose a game.”
Watson had the last chance to make a play for the Chiefs, falling to come up with a fourth-and-25 catch late in the fourth quarter. The pass from Mahomes hit Watson in the hands just as Eagles cornerback Darius Slay made contact with the receiver while trying to break up the pass.
“There was a soft spot in the defense. Pat put a good ball up,” Watson said. “I’ve gotta find a way to come down with that and give us a chance to finish the game to win.”
Watson had five catches for 53 yards and was targeted a career-high 11 times Monday. His previous high for targets with the Chiefs was five.
Ultimately, Watson said he didn’t do enough.
“The expectation is that every time I get targeted, it ends up in reception,” he said. “I didn’t do that today, and I’ll figure out how to fix that this week.”
The final result wasted a strong defensive effort. KC’s defense surrendered 21 points while allowing 4.4 yards per play — Philadelphia’s second-worst mark this season.
When referencing the defense, Watson said it’s come to the point where the Chiefs “can’t expect them to do everything.”
“It’s the same story every week. Those guys are playing unbelievable,” Watson said. “And as an offense, we’ve got to come alongside them and score more points so that we can win games.”
Kelce, meanwhile, reiterated that the Chiefs’ offensive issues remained self-inflicted.
“It’s all fixable,” Kelce said. “We’ve just got to do it.”
Jesse Newell — he’s won an EPPY for best sports blog and previously has been named top beat writer in his circulation by AP’s Sports Editors — covers the Chiefs for The Star. His interest in sports analytics comes from his math teacher father, who handed out rulers to Trick-or-Treaters each year.
First appeared on www.kansascity.com