Super Bowl winner Mitchell Schwartz, a former offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs, is not holding back on his old team’s struggles. Following the Chiefs‘ disappointing 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos on November 16, 2025, Schwartz went public with a strong opinion: Patrick Mahomes‘ offense no longer scares opposing defenses.

Schwartz’s main complaint, which he shared on X (formerly Twitter), centers on how the Chiefs use the under-center run game. He argues that the Chiefs don’t use it consistently enough to build an identity. Instead, it feels like they just cherry-pick those plays, which is a major problem. He wrote on X,

“This is what I’ve said repeatedly about when KC goes under center. It’s not an identity, and it feels cherry-picked, so defenses don’t respect it.”

Schwartz pointed to the Broncos game as proof. He noted that even when the Chiefs had good runs from under center, gaining 5, 7, and 11 yards, the Denver defense never looked worried.

Why? Because opponents evidently know that the Chiefs aren’t committed to running the ball. They recognize that these quick runs are just setups for deep passing plays. This allows defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage, take away the running lanes, and then focus on shutting down Patrick Mahomes in the passing game.

This breakdown in strategy explains why the 5-5 Chiefs are struggling against better defensive teams this season. The loss to Denver highlighted the team’s predictability, confirming Schwartz’s sharp critique.

Andy Reid takes the blame for the Chiefs’ stalled offense

The Kansas City Chiefs had a chance to get back on track in the AFC West, but instead, they lost a tough one to the Denver Broncos, 22-19, on Sunday. The Chiefs’ offense kept stalling when it mattered most, especially on their final two drives in the fourth quarter. After the game, Head Coach Andy Reid didn’t point fingers at his players; he put the blame squarely on himself, saying that more work needs to be put in. 

Reid was honest about what went wrong, giving credit to Denver’s defense, which is ranked as the best in the NFL. But he quickly admitted that the Chiefs were their own worst enemy.

“They have the No. 1 defense in the National Football League, so we’re fighting, and then we had some where we were going backwards and kind of self-inflicted things,” Reid said. “So gotta take care of that.”

The Chiefs actually looked like they were going to win when Patrick Mahomes hit Travis Kelce for a 21-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter, putting them up 19-16.

However, after taking that lead, the offense completely shut down, going three-and-out on both of its last two possessions. This gave the Broncos time to drive for two game-winning field goals.

Reid’s biggest regret was not putting his team in a better position at the end, as he said,

“I’ve got to make sure that we don’t go three-and-out with those last couple offensive series.”

Even earlier in the game, the Chiefs struggled. They got into the “red zone” twice in the first half but were forced to settle for just two field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. Reid called that a mix of Denver’s aggressive defense and too many Chiefs mistakes.

Irrespective of everything, Reid gave credit to the Broncos and gave the Chiefs fans hope that the team will work on their problems for their next game.