Patrick Mahomes Gives Blunt Evaluation of Chiefs Offense vs. Jaguars

Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II in Week 2.

The Kansas City Chiefs were victorious in Week 2 — evening out their 2023 regular season record to 1-1 — but it was the defense leading the charge over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II gave his blunt assessment of the KC offense during his postgame press conference on September 17, and his thoughts provided a mix of constructive criticism and optimism moving forward.

“I mean obviously, too many penalties, too many miscues,” Mahomes began, “but there’s stuff that we can learn from. We got a lot of zone coverage [in Week 2], just having to find ways to execute versus zone and driving the length of the field. Just going back to the basics, back to the fundamentals, but if you play bad and win it’s a lot better than playing bad and losing so I was glad we found a way to get a win at the end of the day.”

He added that there is still “obviously a lot of stuff that we have to get better at.”

Patrick Mahomes Credits Chiefs’ Back-to-Back Touchdown Drives With Momentum Swing vs Jaguars

The Chiefs were down 3-0 going into their final drive of the first half in Jacksonville. Then Mahomes and the offense drove 50 yards to put seven points on the board.

“We were playing a good football team and when you make mistakes, you’re not going to have sustained drives as an offense,” Mahomes commented when asked about the slow start over the first two quarters of play. “We were able to get that last touchdown to get a little bit of momentum, and then a big drive in that first drive out of half and getting that touchdown and kind of getting the momentum back in our favor.”

The Chiefs opened the outing with a three and out, followed by a nine-play drive derailed by a holding penalty, two fumbles (one on special teams) and an interception. They finally struck paydirt on that final drive of the first half, and then doubled up on back-to-back possessions with another TD to start the third quarter.

In the end, that was all the points KC needed.

“It’s hard for everyone to see because we’ve been such a prolific offense for so long and we started fast, but if you don’t execute at a high level in this league, you’re not going to have success, you’re not going to score touchdowns, you’re not going to have sustained drives,” Mahomes voiced. “That’s something we have to get better at.”

“I was proud of the guys that they kept fighting,” the reigning MVP concluded. “Even at the beginning of last year, we didn’t play as well — maybe after the first game — that we wanted to, but you have to continue to build and build… You just continue to stack wins no matter how you get them and try to play your best football as the season goes on.”

Chiefs HC Andy Reid Praises Defense, Says Offense ‘Battled Through’ Issues & Showed Resolve

After the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gave his immediate reaction on the win.

“I’m an offensive guy but that was a beautiful thing defensively,” Big Red stated with a smile. “Offensively, we’ve gotta take care of the penalties and the turnovers, but to battle through it shows me a little something.”

“We’ll get the other stuff fixed as we go,” Reid added. So, a similar message as Mahomes overall.

The Chiefs HC also acknowledged that the elements likely played into some of the results — referencing the intense Jacksonville heat on September 17.