Chiefs shut out in second half vs. Eagles: How Kansas City's offense continues to struggle in third and fourth quarters

Kyle Irving

Chiefs shut out in second half vs. Eagles: How Kansas City's offense continues to struggle in third and fourth quarters image

When you have a playmaker like Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, points are expected to come easy. And throughout his reign as the Chiefs' signal-caller, they have.

It's almost impossible to believe that Kansas City hasn't scored a single point in its last three second halves, but this bizarre fact has become a recurring theme for the NFL's defending champions.

The damning trend continued in the Chiefs' loss to the Eagles on "Monday Night Football," where Kansas City jumped out to a 17-7 lead at halftime but failed to get on the board after the break as Philadelphia completed a comeback in the fourth quarter.

MORE: Eagles shut out Chiefs in second half as drops doom Kansas City

It's not like the scoring opportunities were blank in the second half — the Chiefs' weapons just didn't execute at the level needed to pick up a win in the Super Bowl rematch between two of the league's most prolific contenders.

Star TE Travis Kelce had an uncharacteristic red zone fumble on the nine-yard line as Kansas City's 12-play, 65-yard drive came up empty-handed early in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs' offense didn't gain much momentum thereafter, but it had one last golden opportunity on the final drive of the game trailing by four.

Mahomes let loose on a 50-yard bomb to a streaking Marquez Valdes-Scantling who had his man beat, but the speedy WR couldn't haul in what could have been the game-winning touchdown reception.

As a result, Kansas City was handed its second loss in three games as the offense continued to stall in the second half.

Chiefs' offense continues to struggle in second half

The Chiefs have been held scoreless in the second half of their last three games: a loss to the Eagles, a win over the Dolphins and a loss to the Broncos. That's a franchise-record streak, and as NFL Research pointed out, it's a stunning departure from the way the Chiefs have produced in recent seasons. 

While goose eggs under the third and fourth quarters are only a three-game trend, Kansas City's second-half offense didn't look sharp in the two games prior, either.

Week Opponent 2nd half points Result
6 vs. Broncos 6 W, 19-8
7 vs. Chargers 7 W, 31-17
8 at Broncos 0 L, 24-9
9 vs. Dolphins 0 W, 21-14
10 BYE    
11 vs. Eagles 0 L, 21-17

Just 13 points in the Chiefs' last five second halves should spell worse than a 3-2 record, but their defense has been surprisingly stout and the offense has had no trouble getting going early.

The Chiefs average 17.2 first-half points per game, the second-most in the NFL, according to TeamRankings. Only the Cowboys (19.4) have been better. That shouldn't come as a surprise for a unit that has Mahomes at the helm and averages the eighth-most yards per game.

However, Kansas City's offense has crashed and burned in the second half of games. It is averaging a league-worst 5.3 second-half points per game this season — somehow worse than lowly offenses like the Patriots and Jets.

The Chiefs had done a good job of jumping out and maintaining big leads early on in the season, but we're starting to see it cost them when their gears grind to a halt in the second half. The Broncos picked up a wire-to-wire victory without much resistance. The Dolphins nearly completed a 21-point comeback in Germany and the Eagles did complete a second-half comeback on Monday.

MORE: NFL power rankings: 49ers, Cowboys, Broncos keep rising; Seahawks, Steelers slip for Week 12

Playing with the lead can be a curse, because there have certainly been moments where the Chiefs are trying just as hard to kill the clock as they are trying to score in the second half. They rank sixth in the NFL in second-half time of possession share percentage, but they aren't turning those possessions into points of any kind.

It doesn't help that Mahomes is working with a lacking receiving core that leads the league in drops, but even guys like Kelce haven't answered the call when the star QB is trying to make some magic happen late in games.

Kansas City is still one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL, but their second-half scoring droughts are certainly an issue to monitor as it looks to pursue its third Super Bowl trophy in five seasons.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.