The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Tennessee Titans, 26-9, on Sunday afternoon, dropping their fourth game in a row.
Kansas City lost quarterback Gardner Minshew to a knee injury early in the second quarter, and while reserve Chris Oladokun – in only his second career regular-season game – played admirably, Tennessee built an advantage that it ultimately never relinquished.
"I appreciated the effort of the guys. We have a lot of guys who are getting an opportunity to play, and it's not as smooth as you want it, obviously," said Head Coach Andy Reid. "They came out and played hard, we were just short on a few [things] there."
Oladokun completed 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards in the game, leading Kansas City to a go-ahead field goal on his first series. The drive included a 6-yard strike to tight end Travis Kelce, marking the first completion of Oladokun's career as Kansas City went on to tally its first points of the day.
"He was able to get us moving a little bit," Reid said. "I probably can give him some better stuff to work with, but for what he was asked to do, I thought he did a nice job."
Tennessee was then back in front when Titans' quarterback Cam Ward found wide receiver Chig Okonkwo for a 7-yard score, but Oladokun continued to fight amidst the various circumstances, completing all five of his pass attempts for 40 yards on Kansas City's ensuing drive. The series ended with just a field goal, however, before Tennessee opened up the third quarter with another touchdown series, pushing its advantage to 10 points.
Kansas City later managed to narrow the deficit when kicker Harrison Butker connected on a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter, but Tennessee was in front by double-digits once again when Titans' tailback Tyjae Spears rushed for a 4-yard score early in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee never looked back.
"Nobody likes to lose in this business," Reid said. "We can learn from it, and we need to do that going forward. Sometimes, a good kick in the tail helps you."
In terms of injuries, Reid reported that Minshew (left knee) will undergo an MRI when the team gets back to Kansas City.
The Chiefs will now turn the page to a matchup with the Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
