Josh Simmons Got Told to Leave a Meeting. The Chiefs' Left Tackle Problem Didn't.

The Kansas City Chiefs are 5-1 and headed into a first-place game at Denver, and the loudest story coming out of Arrowhead has nothing to do with the standings.

It's about a left tackle who hasn't played a snap this season.

Josh Simmons, the former first-round pick, was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 22. Vice president of sports medicine Rick Burkholder said Simmons needs more time to "return to full function" — a phrase that does a lot of work when a team won't give a timeline. Then came the report that Simmons was told to leave a Wednesday team meeting by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes after an exchange that began with Simmons sitting with his feet up because of his back. He later apologized. By Monday, Ian Rapoport was publicly raising doubts about whether Simmons ever plays for the Chiefs again.

That is a remarkable amount of noise around a player who has contributed zero snaps to a 5-1 team.

The Football Problem Underneath the Noise

Strip away the meeting-room drama and the roster reality is ugly on its own. Kansas City has been patching the blindside all year, and the depth chart now lists Kahlil Benson and Jaylon Moore at tackle with Moore in concussion protocol and ruled out for Week 7. Mahomes has been pressured on roughly 21 percent of his dropbacks, taking 17 hits and 11 hurries across the games charted. For a quarterback whose offense is built on extending plays, that's a tax on every snap.

You saw the bill in Seattle. The Chiefs put up 213 yards on 3.3 yards per play, went zero-for-anything in explosive plays, converted 27 percent of third downs, and never reached the red zone. Not once. Mahomes finished 19-of-33 for 165 yards with a pick and a 58.3 passer rating — his worst line of the year by a wide margin.

And the Receivers Aren't Helping

The supporting cast has thinned to the point of alarming. Rashee Rice hasn't played since Oct. 4 with hamstring and knee issues and has been ruled out repeatedly. Tyquan Thornton is out with a dislocated ankle. Brashard Smith is on the shelf with a hamstring. That leaves Travis Kelce — 24 catches, 343 yards, two scores — as the only dependable chain-mover, and it's why the Chiefs have reportedly been calling around about a receiver with the Nov. 10 trade deadline approaching.

The season-long numbers still look respectable: 23.8 points per game, 387.2 yards per game, Mahomes at 64.9 percent with nine touchdowns and four picks. But the red-zone touchdown rate sits at 19.1 percent, and the offense's recent form understates the whole operation. Over the last three games Kansas City is averaging 18.3 points and 350.3 yards while giving the ball away more than it takes it — a minus-0.3 turnover margin after running plus-1.0 for the season.

Why This Week Is the Wrong Week for a Distraction

Denver is 5-2, 3-0 at home, on a three-game win streak, and has been waiting for exactly this: a Chiefs stumble with a head-to-head date already circled. Sunday at Empower Field decides sole possession of the AFC West. Kansas City opened and remains a short road favorite, which tells you the market still respects the name — but the power-rating picture has soured fast, with the Chiefs tumbling double-digit spots after Week 7.

The path back is straightforward on paper. Kenneth Walker has been a workhorse — 701 rushing yards, 5.8 per carry, 116.8 per game, six touchdowns — and a 141.5-yard-per-game ground attack is the best protection a patchwork line can get. The defense allowing 17.2 points per game and forcing turnovers at a top-five rate is the reason this team is 5-1 rather than 3-3.

But lines and locker rooms are connected. A left tackle on IR, a player told to leave a meeting, a receiver room held together by Travis Kelce, and a trade deadline two weeks out — that's a lot of unresolved weight for a team about to play for first place. The Chiefs can win Sunday. The question is whether they can stop the offseason's biggest question from becoming the season's.