4 reasons the Chiefs are in freefall

What a difference a month can make.

The Kansas City Chiefs looked like genuine Super Bowl contenders when they went undefeated over the first five weeks of the season. However, things have quickly fallen apart for them since; they've lost four of their last five games and barely resemble the dominant outfit they appeared to be early in the year.

Here are four of the main reasons the Chiefs are struggling.

Lack of help for Kareem Hunt

Kareem Hunt burst onto the NFL scene like few running backs before him, with 100-plus yards from scrimmage in each of his first five games, but the rookie's reached that mark just twice since, once when most of his production came as a receiver.

That downturn, however, isn't on Hunt - it's on Andy Reid and the offensive line.

The rookie simply isn't getting the same level of blocking he did earlier in the year, likely due to injuries to the offensive line. And Reid hasn't adjusted his game plans well enough to compensate for the increased attention on Hunt and the line's inability to open up the holes it once could. Hunt averaged 2.9 yards before contact per rush in the Chiefs' first five games, but just 0.9 yards in the next five, according to Pro Football Focus.

Hunt's big plays and touchdowns have dried up too, and the Chiefs' offense has - unsurprisingly - suffered.

Andy Reid's overthinking play-calling

Reid is known for his creativity on offense, and that out-of-the-box thinking helped fuel the Chiefs' 5-0 start.

Lately, though, Reid's demonstrated his propensity to overthink his play calls. The head coach has tried too often to jump-start his unit with gadget plays, only serving to kill his team's rhythm.

Tight end Travis Kelce throws a pretty spiral, but this kind of ineffective and costly play call from Reid has become too common:

Alex Smith's reverted to a game-manager

In the opening month of the campaign, Alex Smith defied the narrative that's shadowed his career, playing with a newfound aggression and challenging defenses downfield.

But the veteran pivot's progression seems like it was a mirage. Smith's struggles with pocket presence have resurfaced and he's once again unable to make deep throws consistently.

In Sunday's 12-9 loss to the New York Giants, Smith looked like his old, conservative self. Of his 40 attempts, he threw 27 for under 10 yards in the air, with 11 of those passes behind the line of scrimmage, according to Pro Football Focus.

No standout strengths on defense

It's impossible to select one specific area of the Chiefs' defense as the main culprit for its struggles. Instead, the biggest problem is that Kansas City has no discernible strength to mitigate any of its weaknesses.

The Chiefs own the 28th-ranked pass defense and the 29th-ranked run defense. They're tied for 23rd in sacks with 19 and have gotten to the opposing quarterback just twice in their last four games. Aside from Chris Jones and Justin Houston, no one on the front seven is playing well.

Usually, even bad defenses have some strength to fall back on. The Chiefs, however, are poor from top to bottom.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)