Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era the Kansas City Chiefs have started the season 1-2 and are in last place in the AFC West. This came at the hands of the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers, who beat the Chiefs 30-24 in Week 3.
Chiefs Kingdom was worried after Kansas City lost to the banged-up Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football in Week 2. But a loss to the Chargers — who were 1-1 entering the matchup with Kansas City — has the entire NFL landscape wondering how bad it could really get for the defending AFC champions in 2021.
But if you ask quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he’s not concerned.
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Mahomes: There’s Not Much Concern
Mahomes was asked during his postgame press conference what his level of concern was after back-to-back losses for the Chiefs.
“I mean not a lot. We scored 24 points with four turnovers,” he said. “I mean you’re not going to win games with four turnovers in this league. We were moving the ball the way we wanted to, and we got ourselves back in the game and gave ourselves a chance at the end. There’s not much concern, it’s just about going in and putting in the work every single week.”
Since this is the first time Kansas City has been in this predicament since 2015 — which is the last time they started 1-2, per Pro Football Reference — it would be natural for there to be a sense of urgency for a team that is accustomed to winning with Mahomes under center. But according to Mahomes, it’s too early to sound the alarms.
“I think we’ll be ready for the challenge, (It’s) really early in the season, obviously we haven’t had any since I’ve been quarterback here,” Mahomes explained. “We’re behind all these teams in our division, but the bright spot is we have a long season to go. It’s going to be how we respond and how we go to work every single day.”
Toub: This Is Unusual for Us
Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, David Toub, spoke to the media after the game in place of Andy Reid, who fell ill and was shipped to the hospital. Toub commented on this unusual scenario for a Chiefs team that is looking to appear in a third straight Super Bowl.
“Yeah, this is unusual for us. To be honest, it’s a little bit of a crossroads for us,” Toub said. “We’ve got great leadership and our guys are going to battle back. Our guys are going to battle back strong, and we’re going to have a great week of practice and clean it up. We have to clean up the game, clean up the turnovers, execute on the offensive side of the ball, create turnovers and stops on defense, play solid special teams and we’ll be back on track.”
Despite 14 games still remaining on the regular-season schedule, there still should be a relatively high level of concern for those who were hoping that Kansas City would make it to back-to-back-to-back Super Bowls. Mahomes’ decision-making hasn’t been elite to start the season, leading to a costly interception in the fourth quarter against the Chargers as the latest example. Turnovers overall for the offense have been an issue for the team; Kansas City has six turnovers through three weeks, per ESPN.
PATRICK MAHOMES THROWS AN INTERCEPTION t.co/6063VnSJU2
And then there’s the Chiefs’ defense, which seems to have no answer to anything that is thrown their way by an opposing offense. That’s why they have given up 1,290 total yards of offense through three weeks, per ESPN, which ranks 31st in the NFL, just six yards behind the worst defense in that category, which belongs to the Washington Football Team.
Next up on the schedule for Kansas City are the Philadelphia Eagles, who will play their Week 3 game on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys. That game is on national television via ESPN, so tune in to see what’s in store for a Chiefs team that will attempt to climb back to .500 in Week 4.