Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
With under two minutes to play and trailing by four points to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw a deep pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for what should have been a touchdown. But for the umpteenth time during the game, the ball was dropped.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling, oh no.
After the game when asked about that key drop late in the fourth quarter, Mahomes opted to shoulder the blame for a play in which he gave his receiver an opportunity to capture the victory for the defending Super Bowl champions.
“Yeah, I have no regret. I mean, they triple-teamed (Chiefs tight end) Travis (Kelce), so I went to the guy that won downfield, and Marquez won. He just didn’t come away with the ball. I probably could have thrown it a little bit shorter, he was that open.”
“I have no regret … just didn’t come away with the ball. I could probably throw a little shorter — he was that open.”
– Patrick Mahomes on the deep shot to MVS
Heading into the game, Kansas City led the league in dropped passes with 18. Per ESPN, the Chiefs now have 26 dropped passes on the season, which means they had 8 drops vs. the Eagles.
Despite that glaring problem during the game, Mahomes refused to point the finger at his receivers.
“That didn’t just lose the game, there was a lot of stuff that happened,” Mahomes said of the dropped passes. “It starts with me. I’ve got to make better throws at certain times.”
Chiefs Lose to Eagles 21-17 on MNF
Against the Eagles, Mahomes completed 24-of-43 pass attempts for 177 yards, 2 touchdowns, and had 1 interception. The leading receiver for Kansas City was Justin Watson, who caught 5-of-11 targets for 53 yards and scored 1 touchdown. The leading rusher was Isiah Pacheco, who ran the ball 19 times for 89 yards.
Overall, the Chiefs’ defense played great in Week 11. The unit gave up just 238 yards of total offense to Philadelphia and managed to sack quarterback Jalen Hurts 5 times and had 1 interception. Yet after giving up just 7 points in the first half, a few big plays by running back D’Andre Swift and receiver DeVonta Smith gave the Eagles’ offense enough life to squeak out the victory.
#Eagles QB Jalen Hurts connects deep with WR DeVonta Smith for a 41-yard gain.
A loss to the Eagles in Week 3 knocked the Chiefs’ record to 7-3, which now has them tied for the No. 2 seed in the AFC with the Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins. The Baltimore Ravens (8-3) are now the No. 1 seed in the conference.
The win for the Eagles improved their record to 9-1, which maintains their one-game lead over the 8-2 Detroit Lions for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Twitter/X Reacts to KC’s Loss
Users on X, formerly Twitter, reacted to the Chiefs losing to the Eagles in Week 11.
“It must be tough to have a once in a generation QB throwing passes and hitting professional receivers in the hands only to drop see more passes than any other NFL team this season,” one user wrote.
“In 2014 the Chiefs went a whole season without a WR catching a TD pass. I would gladly take that WR unit over what we have now,” another user wrote.
“Expect perfection. Hate to lose!! The white elephant in the room couldn’t be more obvious that it needs to get figured out after tonight,” another user wrote. “There’s no other team in the league that can do it but this team. We have a long ways to go to get to February.”