The MVP hype train for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes got temporarily derailed yesterday, as the Buffalo Bills did something that’s never been done to Mahomes, holding him to just 15 for 34 in their 28-21 win yesterday. 

It’s never happened before in Mahomes’ NFL career, and he cited inconsistency as the reason for his struggles and the fact that the Chiefs have lost four one-score games this year. 

“We’ve had great moments and we’ve had bad moments,” Mahomes said in an article written by Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “We’ve got to be more consistent as a team, I’ve got to be more consistent as a quarterback and we’ve gotta be able to battle. 

“We’ve kind of been in a lot of these tight, close games in our history, but they’re not going our way now. How can we deal with that adversity? How can we be better and learn from it? You can only learn from so many losses. You’ve got to learn from it fast. It’s going to be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up to it.”

Kansas City definitely wasn’t up to handling what Buffalo threw at Mahomes yesterday. The Bills sent pressure throughout the game, and Mahomes was just 3 of 16 with an interception in those situations, according to Alper.

Mahomes has a reputation for picking apart teams when they pressure or blitz him, but that didn’t happen yesterday. The Kansas City quarterback politely avoided talking about the elephant in the corner of the room, which is the lack of a running game to help slow down opposing rushers occasionally. 

Running back Isiah Pacheco usually does some of that, but he was out yesterday with an MCL sprain, and it remains to be seeing he can get healthy during the Chiefs’ bye week. Pacheco isn’t a workhorse back by any means, but he is effective with swing passes and the screen game, not to mention the occasional inside run.

Meanwhile, tomorrow’s trade deadline looms, and Chiefs fans are wondering if coach Andy Reid and GM Brett Veach will finally do the obvious and pick up a running back. The Chiefs were limited to running backs Kareem Hunt and Brashard Smith yesterday, and while Hunt had a solid day with 49 yards on 11 carries to go with a touchdown, he’s basically a short yardage/complementary back who was forced into a larger role yesterday. 

The Chiefs have two weeks to solve this problem, for all intents and purposes. They travel to Mile High to face the Denver Broncos after the bye, and the Broncos are the best in the league at pressuring the quarterback right now.