CINCINNATI -- Clock management for the Kansas City Chiefs under coach Andy Reid hasn’t always been solid, and a situation late in the first half of Sunday’s 36-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals was the latest example.
The Chiefs, trailing 14-9 at the two-minute warning, had the ball at the Cincinnati 26 with two timeouts remaining. Somehow, they managed to run just three plays plus get a 34-yard field goal from Cairo Santos with four seconds left.
“You don’t want to give the ball back, but at the same time you want to make sure you score,’’ Reid said.
“There were some opportunities to shoot it potentially into the end zone. It didn’t work and that’s not what took place. That should be plenty of time. When it works, it’s a beautiful thing. And when it doesn’t, it doesn’t look very good.’’
The Chiefs called timeout with 33 seconds left and facing a third-and-7 from the 23. They drew a delay of game penalty coming out of the timeout that didn’t please quarterback Alex Smith.
“We called a timeout and TV dictates whether it’s going to be a 30-second timeout or a long timeout,’’ Smith said. “We came over to the sideline and no one told us anything and all of a sudden they started the [play] clock.
“We had no idea. Nobody had come over to say anything. Usually the head referee will wait. Usually the head ref will give you a 10-second heads-up as a quarterback to call the play and make sure you’re ready, so you don’t have a situation like that.
“I thought that was a bit ridiculous. No one came over to tell us it was a 30-second timeout. There was a lack of communication. To be rushing us and not to communicate, that’s unusual.’’
The Chiefs, notably tight end Travis Kelce, also lined up incorrectly for the play following the timeout. Smith said the Chiefs would have had time to correct their alignment if they had more seconds on the play clock.
After the penalty, the Chiefs threw a pass to Jeremy Maclin that left them one yard short of a first down. So they settled for the field goal, one of seven Santos would get on Sunday.