‘I’m not sure where these came from’ — Andy Reid’s latest admission underscores how KC Chiefs have gone blind to recurring problems

There are serious questions about whether the Kansas City Chiefs will ever fix their problems with dropped passes.

Charles Goldman — NFL Managing Editor
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Depending on who you ask or where you get your data, the Kansas City Chiefs had six, seven, or maybe even ten dropped passes against the Houston Texans in Week 14. While the exact number is up for debate, what was apparent was that it was far too many drops for the offense to be successful in a game where the margins for error are razor-thin.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke about the dropped passes during his Monday conference call with the media, admitting there were far too many.

“The obvious is we’ve had too many drops, you’ve got to take care of that,” Reid said. “I’m not sure where these came from. We’ve been catching the ball pretty good there the last couple of games, so we have got to go back to that and make sure – these are great players that have had some drops, and the quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) I know would have liked a couple of those throws back.”

While Coach Reid was focused on the Week 14 game in a vacuum, the lack of self-awareness for what has been a recurring problem for Kansas City is exactly what fans are so frustrated about. Dropped passes aren’t a new problem for the Chiefs; in fact, they’ve been plaguing this team for multiple years now.

The Chiefs have gone blind to recurring problems with dropped passes

The Chiefs feature a high-volume passing attack, so naturally, they’re going to have more drops than other NFL teams. However, acting as if these issues just popped up out of thin air in Kansas City is somewhat disingenuous.

The Chiefs led the NFL in dropped passes in 2023 with 39 drops from pass-catchers. 6.9% of all passes Patrick Mahomes threw that season were dropped. The 2024 NFL season saw marked improvement for Kansas City, with just 26 passes dropped, ranking eighth-most in the league. It’s easy to overlook when you’re playing in Super Bowls and finding improbable ways to win games, but now that the Chiefs are sitting at 6-7 through thirteen weeks, it’s hard to overlook the problem. As things currently stand, they’re tied for the second-worst mark in the league for dropped passes.

Patrick Mahomes has always maintained that you need to have a short memory when it comes to drops from a wide receiver. He’s always going to keep firing and go back to his guys, even when things aren’t going their way, because he trusts them to make plays in big moments. He’s seen them do it before in Super Bowls and AFC title games, so why not during a Week 14 game?

What’s causing the Chiefs’ current struggles with dropped passes?

Chiefs fans are eager to point the finger at third-year wide receiver coach Connor Embree, who has been coaching since the dropped passes have plagued this team. The truth is that it hasn’t just been the wide receivers who have failed to haul in passes. In Week 14 against the Texans, that was painfully apparent with TEs Noah Gray and Travis Kelce incurring multiple drops.

Asked why the drops happen, Chiefs HC Andy Reid insisted it’s not due to a lack of effort or laziness. There are several different reasons that a drop could happen on a given play.

“It’s not from a lack of effort part,” Reid said. “It could be as simple as taking your eyes off the ball to see where you’re going to want to go in these traffic throws. That can be the case, or maybe the ball’s a little bit on your back shoulder, and you have to squeeze it before you finish it, and try and take it up the field, so there’s all kinds of things. It could be part is the throw (or) part is just making sure you look at it all the way into the tuck.”

So, how do they cut down on the drops with four games left to go in the 2025 NFL season? It’ll be the same old tired story of getting back to work at practice and focusing on the details. It’s the last thing that Chiefs Kingdom wants to hear, but that’s the reality of fixing it. It’s treated as a practice-makes-perfect scenario. However, it sure feels as if the team has continually glossed over this recurring issue that has crept its way into Andy Reid’s offense, and now they’re reaping what they’ve sown.

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