The Kansas City Chiefs survived a narrow 23-20 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football and the offense was not at its best — scoring just six points after the first quarter.
Of course, it’s fair to mention that quarterback Patrick Mahomes II decided to slide down at the Jets’ two-yard line and run down the clock rather than stroll into the end zone for a fourth quarter touchdown, but the overall point is that the Chiefs did not finish the game how they started it and that didn’t sit right with the locker room.
Mahomes shouldered the bulk of the blame during his postgame press conference, but superstar tight end and veteran team leader Travis Kelce wasn’t shy about voicing his opinion to The Athletic’s NFL insider Dianna Russini either.
“I spoke with Travis Kelce walking off the field tonight and he was not happy,” Russini informed. “He was pissed off about the offense. He mentioned penalties and mistakes were costly and they did nothing to help the defense tonight.”
She added that “it was a win but not how they wanted [it].”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Shows Accountability After ‘4th-Lowest Single-Game Passer Rating’ of Career vs. Jets
After the game, Arrowhead Pride lead analyst Ron Kopp Jr. relayed that the Week 4 win over the Jets was Mahomes’ “4th-lowest single-game passer rating in his career (63.6),” and the “lowest since Week 13 of 2021” versus the Denver Broncos.
“I mean, it was definitely a fight,” Mahomes began during the aforementioned postgame session with the media. “We came out hot, obviously struggled, made two just bad throws where I was trying to lay it over linebacker and the safety, and I just didn’t throw it far enough, hit the dude right in the chest.”
“[That’s] stuff that you can’t do,” the Chiefs QB acknowledged, adding later that he has to be “better with the football” in regard to the turnovers, and that the KC defense “stepped up” for him.
Mahomes finished with two interceptions and one passing touchdown to tight end Noah Gray. He was also just 18 of 30 through the air — which is pretty low for his standards.
“It’s not always going to be pretty for four quarters,” Mahomes stated while crediting the Jets defense. “Whenever the opportunity arises it’s about going out there and finishing it. Obviously, we didn’t do that the first game but I’m glad [that] we were able to do it these last few.”
Chiefs WRs Struggle vs. Jets While Isiah Pacheco & Tight Ends Carry Passing Attack
We’ve talked about Mahomes’ struggles, but he wasn’t the only one that had a rough night on October 1. Similar to Week 1, the wide receiver corps provided very little for KC outside of one 18-yard catch and run by Rashee Rice and one diving 15-yard snag from Kadarius Toney.
Aside from those two connections, Chiefs WRs only had five receptions for 32 yards.
Skyy Moore was held without a catch once again (targeted twice), Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson combined for two catches, and the leading wideout was Rice with 32 yards off three receptions. That’s not a very inspiring performance.
Again, it is fair to mention the opponent. The Jets flaunt one of the top cornerback trios in the NFL with Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed Jr. and Michael Carter II, but that fact is unlikely to quell the call of Chiefs fans who are anxious for help at wide receiver.
After all, Kelce and Gray had plenty of success against the same Jets secondary, as did running back Isiah Pacheco — who accumulated 43 yards in the passing game and another 115 yards on the ground.
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Travis Kelce Sounds Off to Insider After Chiefs Beat Jets: ‘He Was Not Happy’