Chiefs lose to Bengals 36-21, fall to 1-3

Quarterback Alex Smith took a beating in the Chiefs’ loss to Green Bay six days ago, both literally and figuratively.

He was sacked seven times, and criticized by many for his inability (or unwillingness) to deliver the football downfield.

However, Smith certainly improved in the latter category against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, as he threw for a season-high 364 yards and completed 29 of 42 passes, including 11 to big-money receiver Jeremy Maclin (148 yards).

But it says something about the current state of the team — not to mention the quality of the undefeated Bengals — that Smith’s improved performance still wasn’t good enough to overcome the numerous issues that marred the Chiefs’ 36-21 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday.

The Chiefs, 1-3, lost their third game in a row, largely due to the brilliance of Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton, a still-leaky run defense, offensive line issues (five sacks allowed) and a complete inability to finish offensive drives in the end zone — the latter of which was signified by kicker Cairo Santos’ team-record seven field goals on Sunday.

Unlike the Packers game, however — a 38-28 defeat that didn’t quite reflect the one-sidedness of the game — early effort was not an issue, as the game was close (14-12) at the break.

The Bengals however, began to pull away in the third quarter, thanks to an outstanding play by Dalton, who escaped pressure on a third-and-11 — one of the few times the Chiefs’ managed to get after him all day — and unleashed a deep ball down the right side to receiver Brandon Tate, who had a step on corner Marcus Peters.

Tate made a diving catch, promptly jumped to his feet and leapt into the end zone with Peters in pursuit to give the Bengals a 21-12 lead with 8:43 left in the third quarter.

The Chiefs responded with a field goal to cut the deficit to 21-15, but after a Bengals punt, the Chiefs commenced a three-play stretch in which they efficiently shot themselves in the foot.

Smith was whistled for intentional grounding on first down and was sacked on second down, but the real killer came on third and 30, when Travis Kelce fumbled while going to the ground.

Bengals safety Reggie Nelson scooped it up and returned it to the Chiefs’ 6, and a few plays later, running back Jeremy Hill scored from 5 yards out to put the Bengals ahead by 12.

The Chiefs forced an incompletion on the ensuing two-point conversion, but a holding penalty on Derrick Johnson gave them another opportunity, as Hill pounded it in from 1-yard out to put the Bengals ahead 29-15 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Chiefs responded with a nice 16-play, 71-yard drive that stalled at the Bengals’ 11. Facing a fourth and 10 on the 11, Chiefs coach Andy Reid elected to go for the field goal. The 29-yarder was Santos’ sixth of the day, and the Chiefs trailed 29-18 with 9:28 left.

But the Bengals essentially put the game away on their next drive, when they marched 80 yards in seven plays. The drive was capped by an 8-yard run by Hill — his third touchdown of the day — to give the Bengals an insurmountable 36-18 lead

The Chiefs made a number of defensive adjustments following their bludgeoning at Green Bay on Monday, including using more three-man fronts in subpackages to stop the run and moving safety Ron Parker to nickel cornerback.

But little of it mattered, as Dalton completed 17 of 24 passes for 321 yards, and the Bengals rushed for 121 yards on 22 carries, an average of 5.5 per carry.

Cincinnati got it going early, too, as the Bengals scored a touchdown on their first drive. The Chiefs responded with a field goal, but the Bengals offense continued where it left off, putting together another scoring drive capped by a touchdown run, this one by Gio Bernard from 13 yards out.

That gave the Bengals a 14-3 lead going into the second quarter, whenthe tide finally started to turn for the Chiefs. After Santos field goals, Bengals kicker Mike Nugent had 44-yard field goal bounce off the left upright.

The Chiefs added a 34-yard field goal before the break to make the score 14-12 at halftime, but the offense’s inability to get into the end zone continued in the second half, when the Bengals pulled away.

This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Chiefs lose to Bengals 36-21, fall to 1-3."