Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs moved to 3-0 for the first time since 2020 with a 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night, but to hear the QB speak after the game, you wouldn't have known his team was victorious.
"I'll speak especially offensively to me, myself. I feel like I haven't played very well, and that's not a stats thing," Mahomes said via the team's official transcript. "I just feel like I'm missing opportunities whenever they're out there and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at. So, it's about me getting back to my fundamentals, putting our guys in the right position, and then we've got to execute at a higher level offensively. If teams are going to make us drive the field, we have to prove that we're able to do that, and I'm sure we'll get a lot of the same this next week with the Chargers."
The stats were middling for Mahomes, who completed 26-of-39 passing for 217 yards and two TDs with a red-zone interception. He also missed some throws and couldn't keep the Chiefs on the field last, giving the Falcons a chance to swipe the game. K.C. didn't generate a fourth-quarter first down.
The defense held on late as the Chiefs joined the 1990 49ers as the only teams to start 3-0 coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins (San Francisco started 10-0)
"Yeah, I mean, we haven't played good -- I mean, really all three games," Mahomes said. "We've been able to win. That speaks to the character of the team, the grit, how we've been in these situations before."
The preseason injury to Hollywood Brown appears to have had more of an influence on the Chiefs passing issues than initially anticipated. Through three games, the K.C. passing attack has been Rashee Rice or bust.
Mahomes won his 77th game in his 99th career start in Week 3, the most wins by a QB in their first 100 starts since 1950 (Tom Brady, 76).
With defenses sitting back to take away the big plays, Mahomes has been forced to throw the ball short. Of his 39 pass attempts Sunday night, 28 came under 10 air yards, per Next Gen Stats -- 22 of 28 for 143 yards and two touchdowns. On passes over 10 air yards, Mahomes was just 4 of 8 for 74 yards and an interception.
Part of the offensive struggles to open the season have come with a quiet Travis Kelce. The star tight end caught four of five targets for 30 yards Sunday night. For the season, Kelce has 69 yards on eight catches with no scores.
"Yeah, it's crazy because teams still -- the respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal," Mahomes said when asked about Kelce's quiet night. "It's well-deserved, but we're calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it's like two or three people are going to him. So, I mean, he understands. I think that's the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game, but he wants to win at the end of the day. I'm going to try to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he's there, whenever he's open. But I think the more Rashee makes plays, the more we're able to run the football, the more we can get [Xavier] Worthy involved, that's going to open Travis up more. I mean, people are really emphasizing trying to take him away, and it's getting other guys open."
It's not unusual for offenses to take time to gear up. At least the back-to-back Super Bowl champs are stacking wins while Mahomes and Andy Reid figure out their formula for 2024.
