Getty Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes at Gillette Stadium on December 17, 2023.
The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a demoralizing 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day.
While Chiefs head coach Andy Reid chalked up the team’s performance by saying, “We were just off a tick,” the offense appeared to miss the mark entirely. With Patrick Mahomes at the helm, arguably one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game, it’s hard to process how bad the offense looks.
KC Sports Network’s Matt Lane posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “For half a decade, Mahomes was entirely inevitable. No matter the matchup, the situation, or what it looked like… no team felt comfortable seeing him at QB across from them. This year’s version of the Chiefs has completely broken him and that feeling.”
While that sounds like an exaggeration, Mahomes earned the worst Pro Football Focus grade of his entire career against the Raiders (34.2). The second closest low score he received was back in 2019 against the Houston Texans (40.0).
Kansas City’s collapse on Christmas Day was difficult to watch. The team was booed off the field at halftime and fans started to exit Arrowhead halfway through the fourth quarter. The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia posted, “The Chiefs have played 109 games with Patrick Mahomes as their starter. Among that sample, today’s performance ranked 109th in offensive EPA per drive.”
Patrick Mahomes Still Believes the Chiefs Can Turn Things Around
Mahomes is giving his line the BUSINESS
The Chiefs offense may look broken, and heading into Week 17, there’s understandable doubt on whether they can turn things around. Mahomes was sacked four times against the Raiders. He averaged just 5.3 yards per attempt, his second fewest in any game this season, per The Athletic.
However, the two-time Super Bowl MVP is not mentally broken. While Mahomes was seen yelling at his offensive line early in the second quarter, he explained to reporters after the game what was going through his mind.
“You want to keep guys in the right spirit,” Mahomes said. “I mean, obviously, we know that we weren’t executing at the level that we wanted to throughout the game. But I thought guys did a great job of fighting until the end. We just gotta continue to get better and better. These self-inflicted mistakes. And it’s not just one person.
“I made a couple of them today, but it’s just like one here and there. But if we can be on the same page and execute at a high level, we can get back to that Chiefs offense you’re used to seeing, but we have to prove it. That’s gonna be it at the end of the day. But we got the guys to do it. We got to go out there and do it.”
The Chiefs Face the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17
GettyChiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes at Gillette Stadium on December 17, 2023.
At 9-6 with two games to play, the Chiefs can still win the AFC West, however, they are no longer capable of winning the No. 1 seed in the conference, per CBS Sports. That means Mahomes is set to make his first career playoff start on the road.
After losing the Raiders, the Chiefs need to win or tie in one of their next two games to clinch the AFC West. Next up, the Chiefs host the Cincinnati Bengals on December 31.
Mahomes remains optimistic the offense will start clicking, but he’s not delusional over how they’ve performed as of late. The Chiefs have lost five of their last eight games, and they’re 2-3 this season against teams that currently have winning records. Kansas City entered Week 16 leading the league with 37 dropped passes, per Bet MGM. They recorded two more drops against the Raiders.
“If we clean it up, we’ll be able to score points,” Mahomes said. “It’s just, we’ve got to clean it up. We [have] two games left. You have to do it. If we don’t, we’ll be going home (in the playoffs). I think if we clean it up, we can beat anybody. I truly believe that.”