Kansas City Chiefs Are Still Thinking About The AFC Championship Game Loss

It was the second day of 2022 minicamp on June 15, but Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones was still preoccupied with the 2021 AFC Championship Game.

Before the Chiefs eventually lost 27-24 to the Cincinnati Bengals, the game was tied at 21 in the fourth quarter. And on 3rd and 7, Jones seemingly had Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow dead to rights.

But when Jones grasped Burrow’s shoulder, the quarterback crouched to shrug him off, and then Burrow danced out of Jones’ attempted ankle tackle before scrambling for the first down.

“I missed some of the biggest plays of the game,” Jones said. “(I) used that as motivation the whole offseason. I feel like (if) I would have made those sacks, the game would’ve been different.”

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said it’s good for all of the players, including Jones, and the coaches to take ownership of that playoff loss and use it as inspiration.

“I know Chris took that to heart,” Reid said. “If we can all look in the mirror and be accountable and not point the finger at the other guy, that becomes important … That’s what makes you better. You just grow from that.”

The Chiefs, of course, would never have reached a fourth straight AFC Championship Game appearance without Jones.

Their best defensive player led the Chiefs with nine sacks last year — twice as many as Frank Clark, who was second on the team. And Jones will earn $22.4 million in 2022 — almost twice as much as the next highest-paid defender, safety Justin Reid.

Jones, who rushed from the interior on the infamous 3rd and 7 against the Bengals after playing mostly on the edge early in 2021, said he wants the defense to have more grit this year.

The offense, however, was probably more culpable than the defense for the AFC Championship Game loss.

The Chiefs scored just three points in the second half, and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 8-of-18 passes for just 55 yards and two interceptions in the second half and overtime.

Like Jones, Mahomes, who will earn a team-high $29.5 million this year, was a stand-up guy while discussing the game during minicamp, putting the defeat on his shoulders.

“That second half I didn’t play very good football at all, probably my worst playoff football I’ve ever played,” he said. “I just have to be better at taking what’s there and putting some type of points on the board to come away and get to the Super Bowl.”

As the Chiefs aim for their third Super Bowl appearance of the Mahomes era, they know they will have to do a better job of putting teams away. They led the Bengals 21-10 at halftime and could’ve been up by even more points — except they failed to score from the one-yard line just before the half.

“You use it for some type of motivation,” Mahomes said, “just trying to use that as a learning thing. Whenever I’m struggling or the team is struggling, just find a way to get positive plays because whenever you have a lead like that, you don’t want to lose that lead.”

The Chiefs will get their chance at vengeance when they travel to Cincinnati in Week 13 to play the Bengals on Dec. 4.

In the interim, Jones said that missed sack has stayed with him “1,000%.”

“For me that’s my driving force right now,” he said.