Costly mistakes plagued the Chiefs in their narrow loss to the Jaguars, with players and coaches pointing to one glaring issue that shifted the momentum.

IMAGE: Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid during the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. / Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn ImagesPenalty Trouble Derails Chiefs in Costly Loss to Jaguars

Jacksonville, Florida – The headlines from the Chiefs’ 31-28 loss to the Jaguars might focus on missed opportunities or late-game execution, but step into the locker room or listen to the podium postgame, and one issue kept popping up like a blinking warning light: penalties. And a lot of them.

By night’s end, Kansas City had been flagged 13 times for 109 yards – their most penalty yardage in a single game since that brutal Super Bowl LV showing against Tampa Bay. In comparison, Jacksonville played a cleaner game, whistled just four times for 25 yards. That discrepancy wasn’t lost on anyone in red and white.

Andy Reid opened his press conference by tipping his cap to the Jaguars, but then wasted no time acknowledging what he and every Chiefs fan saw play out in real time.

“Whether I agree with them or don’t agree with them, it doesn’t matter,” Reid said. “They called them.”

And when they’re called – 13 times, no less – it disrupts rhythm, compromises field position, and puts a team in a hole that no amount of yardage or time of possession can erase. Reid understood that as clearly as anyone: “It’s the score that matters, and we’ve got to take care of business there.”

Second-Half Spiral

It wasn’t a complete mess from start to finish. At halftime, the Chiefs led 14-7, having only committed three penalties for 33 yards. The early issues – like an illegal formation on their first offensive snap and an unnecessary roughness call on Hollywood Brown – were momentary bumps, manageable and ultimately overcome by a touchdown.

But after the break, the wheels started to wobble, and then came off.

The Chiefs piled on 10 more flags in the second half alone. Four came on special teams – an area where Kansas City is typically rock-solid. But this time, mistakes took center stage.

Kicker Harrison Butker launched a kickoff out of bounds late in the game, gifting Jacksonville possession at the 40-yard line – prime real estate that set up the go-ahead scoring drive. Jack Cochrane, normally one of the more dependable special teams players, drew two holding calls that wiped out big returns from rookie Brashard Smith – one for 63 yards, another for 34.

As Reid pointed out, there wasn’t a single player or infraction that stood out – several guys got nabbed multiple times. That spread of mistakes across units and individuals only deepened the frustration.

“We’ve got to just fix the problems with it,” Reid said.

Mistake-Prone Football

The issues weren’t limited to special teams. Cornerback Jaylen Watson was flagged twice for defensive penalties, both of which ended up aiding Jacksonville touchdown drives. Kingsley Suamataia might’ve had the most critical offensive penalty of the night – a holding call that stalled what could’ve been a pivotal scoring drive late in the third.

Patrick Mahomes, who put together a solid stat line despite the loss, summed it up with a wide view of where the Chiefs are five games into what’s been a bumpy season.

“I feel like we have the guys, and we’ve executed at certain points of games and looked really good,” Mahomes said. “Then we crush ourselves with penalties and mistakes and interceptions and fumbles or whatever that is.”

That’s the story of the Chiefs’ 2-3 start. Not a shortage of talent. Just an excess of self-inflicted damage.

Mahomes nailed it: in a league where margins are razor-thin, the little things become big. One blown assignment, one hold, one hand in the wrong place – those are the plays that flip wins into losses.

No Time to Mope

Linebacker Leo Chenal echoed Reid’s postgame tone – disappointed, but focused.

“Too many penalties,” Chenal said. “Shooting ourselves in the foot doesn’t help.”

He wasn’t trying to wallow in it, either. The Chiefs host the high-flying Lions in just six days on Sunday Night Football. There’s barely time to unpack this one before preparations need to begin for a Detroit team that’s been playing like an NFC contender.

“We’ve got a whole season ahead of us,” Chenal said. “We’ve got a really good team coming in… so we obviously have to learn from the plenty of mistakes we had today and move on.”

Despite the penalty chaos, Kansas City still had a shot at pulling this one out late. But Reid knows that kind of sloppiness won’t fly against teams like the Lions. Cleaning it up isn’t optional – it’s urgent.

The silver lining? Defensive lineman Chris Jones believes it’s fixable, pointing to one of the last flags of night – a holding call on Derrick Nnadi during Jacksonville’s fourth-quarter field goal drive – as an example of something that boils down to fundamentals.

“Get our hand placement right,” Jones said. “Little things like that.

Eyes, discipline, fundamentals. I think we harp on that.

I think those guys are going to take it to heart and face it.”

If Jones is right, and the Chiefs can get the penalty bug under control, this loss might end up being more wake-up call than warning sign. But until then, the message is clear: Kansas City isn’t losing because it lacks the firepower – it’s losing because it keeps getting in its own way.