KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs endured a 14-point comeback loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.

For a team that is 7-3 and second in the AFC, a superb defense has saved a middling offense from plunging deeper into the standings at the halfway point of the season.

The last three games for the Chiefs have seen them score 0 points in the second half. With head coach Andy Reid having such a pristine reputation for being good after the bye week, a point that he doesn’t like to embrace or discuss, his team fell short and failed to adjust throughout the game.

The offense was so frustrated from the 21-17 loss that quarterback Patrick Mahomes may have sounded the most frustrated he ever has in his NFL career.

“I think offensively we’re just not where I would want to be at this point in the season.”

The Chiefs’ second-half woes and red zone woes continued to plague them against the Eagles.

Mahomes threw an interception in the end zone when trying to hit Justin Watson. A Travis Kelce fumble in the red zone ended a drive early in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs were up by three. Penalties pushing drivers back.

Refusing to run the ball on third and short. Several drops by wide receivers in crucial moments, the most crucial coming from Marquez Valdes-Scantling right after the two-minute warning when he was wide open heading for the end zone.

The team’s three red zone turnovers are tied for second in the NFL. They suffered five drops in the game which makes 26 drops on the season for the Chiefs, an NFL worst.

“I think we’re kind of shooting ourselves in the foot. I gotta do a better job helping out with that,” head coach Andy Reid said.

“We’ve all gotta pick it up a notch there in the second half. We’re just not as sharp there,” Reid said.

“I think they’re on the same page. We’re maybe off a tick.”

The same sentiments that the coaches and players have relayed even in wins were repeated after this game.

But players were quick to call this a team loss and not place the blame solely on MVS like most fans will do.

“They know I’m gonna keep firing it,” Mahomes said about his receivers. “Starts with me. I gotta make better throws at certain times. We have to continue to move the ball down the field and just be more consistent thoroughly throughout the game.”

“It is very frustrating,” receiver Mecole Hardman said. “We come out really good, score points in the first half. We just gotta know how to correct our mistakes, fix our mistakes and score more points in the second half.”

The Chiefs outgained the Eagles 336-238, beat them in third down conversions (8/17 compared to 3/10) but had two turnovers compared to the Eagles’ one.

Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo cooked up a hefty dosage of blitzes to contain Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, and the Chiefs had five sacks in the first half.

With a defense playing at a high level, the team is thankful to have something to fall back on when times are tough on offense.

But they always want to improve.

“We can improve in a lot of areas,” defensive tackle Chris Jones said. He had two sacks and four tackles for loss on the night.

“Self-reflecting overall as a group. I think this is a growing moment for us as a team overall. Give us a lot to look at to improve and get better on.”

“If you have concern, then you don’t win football games,” Mahomes said. “I believe in the guys that we have in the locker room. And we’ll come to work with that mentality if we’re gonna find a way to fix it.”

The Chiefs have a chance to bounce back on the Sunday after Thanksgiving when they hit the road to face AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at 3:25 p.m.