The cameras from a national broadcast hovered over Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes inside the stadium tunnel about an hour before kickoff. His teammates surrounding him, Mahomes provided a 15-second hype speech — you know, the kind of thing that makes for good TV.
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His best work was ahead of him.
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His most important work was behind him.
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The Chiefs left New England with a 27-17 win against the Patriots, ending a rare two-game drought that, in retrospect, weighed more heavily on them than anyone cared to admit.
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Wasn’t about the pre-game speech, though. Mahomes played his best football in two months, but this was the kind of week that the Chiefs needed him in practice nearly as much as they needed him in the game or during a 15-second burst before kickoff.
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His teammates Sunday pointed to an early-week meeting that signaled this kind of day might be coming from him. Not long after he unloaded on referees for a $50,000 fee, Mahomes provided a clear internal message. And even if the recipients didn’t remember the exact words, they remembered the “vibes,” as Travis Kelce would put it.
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No excuses.
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“It’s on us,” linebacker Nick Bolton said.
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“He’s been focused more than I’ve ever seen him focused,” Kelce told me.
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He had the game to match it. Mahomes’ final stat line doesn’t tell his full story Sunday, but man if it doesn’t tell the Chiefs’ full story of this season.
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His day first: 27 of 37 for 305 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
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The Chiefs: Their own receivers had hands on each of the interceptions first, and Kelce had his hands on a touchdown that fell incomplete.
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What better snapshot of this team than that? We at long last saw their ceiling again, a welcomed change, but we too saw their biggest obstacle from reaching it.
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Themselves.
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It’s a maddening blend, and even more maddening that it’s still part of their mix in mid-December. Even when the top quarterback in the world is in elite form, and even when he’s supported by the toughest defense of his era, you’re still left concerned about what else might happen.
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The offense got whatever it wanted for basically three quarters because Mahomes ensured he got whatever he wanted for three quarters. As much as I’d like to fill the entire column with why, it’s required context to at least mention that Kadarius Toney’s future presence within the offense requires yet another reevaluation.
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His fourth-quarter drop fell into the arms of Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai. Toney is as talented as anyone at his position on the Chiefs’ roster, but the organization is stuck waiting for that talent to surpass the mistakes, and 15 weeks is a terribly long time to wait.
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The play fell out of context for an otherwise impressive trip to New England but oh-so-perfectly into the context of the Chiefs’ previous six weeks, which included four losses.
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Good enough to beat anyone.
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Because that guy at his best is better than everyone.
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But hold your breath about the rest.
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The rest of what the Chiefs had rolling, namely the quarterback, looked pretty good against an above-average defense. Let me get back to Kelce for the reasoning, because it’s a piece of the larger point about Mahomes’ place in the conclusion of a losing streak — about the piece that arrived before their plane took off for Foxborough.
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The Patriots’ game plan was quite clear: Remove the Chiefs’ tight end from the equation. Hope the other guys make enough mistakes. It held Kelce to 28 yards on five catches.
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But it’s precisely the type of thing the Chiefs anticipated. Mahomes said as much after the game. He probably could’ve gotten away with broadcasting it before the game, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick would’ve still done the same.
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And while more than a handful of teammates wanted to point to Mahomes’ focus this week, acknowledging the obvious relation to a two-game skid, Mahomes tried to divert that explanation. Tried to make it much more simple.
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“I’m always this focused when I’m playing against Coach (Bill) Belichick because I know how many different schemes he’s going to put out there and how great of a coach he is,” Mahomes said. “Obviously trying to focus on the details as much as possible and really get as many tells as you can.”
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OK, well, in that case, the Patriots arrived on the Chiefs’ schedule at exactly the right time, and not just because of their 3-11 record.
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They drew out the best in the only player who was ever going to pull the Chiefs out of their funk — the motivation be damned.
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Belichick didn’t out-master Mahomes, and it had nothing to do with an inability to find a quarterback that might cost him his job. His defense, the bread and butter of his work, couldn’t solve Mahomes.
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Even if he robbed him of his top target.
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Mahomes turned to Rashee Rice eight times, and all eight passes were caught. (Rice had another catch, a TD, from running back Jerick McKinnon.) Mahomes completed all of seven of his throws to his running backs, which produced 83 yards and two touchdowns.
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More simply put: Mahomes turned the Chiefs into what we saw so frequently in 2022: an offense that can turn Plan B and Plan C into solutions.
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Or better yet, his own words (er, vibes): No excuses.
Esta história foi publicada originalmente 17 de dezembro de 2023, 18h56.
Sam McDowell é colunista esportivo do The Kansas City Star que cobriu Chiefs, Royals, Sporting KC, KU e MU por mais de uma dez. Ele ganhou prêmios nacionais por colunas, reportagens e trabalhos empresariais da APSE e de outras organizações.