Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took the weight again for the Chiefs’ agonizing 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos, and this was perhaps the least surprising thing about a game that featured plenty of twists and turns and roller-coaster moments.
"I think we're really talented and we've got a lot of great players, but it's about being more consistent. I think it starts with me," Mahomes said in an ESPN story written by Nate Taylor. "There's times where I'm firing and we're moving the ball down the field at ease. But there's times where we go in spurts where I miss a throw or a [pass] protection call.
"We haven't been consistent enough to win games. It starts with me."
That’s true to some extent, but the reality is we've heard Mahomes say this before, and he's mostly just doing his job with these comments. He’s the big-money superstar, but he’s not the reason the Chiefs lost this game.
The devil’s in the details when it comes to the real reasons. The Chiefs lost because they were on the road to a Denver team with a superior defense, and the Broncos edged them out in the battle of the big plays.
The ones Mahomes blamed himself for were those early downfield shots that nearly succeeded. The first was to receiver Xavier Worthy, and the second was to fellow receiver Tyquan Thornton, both of whom were open. The Worthy shot looked especially promising, but Mahomes overthrew him by just three yards.
"I've just got to make the throw," Mahomes said. "There's no other way around it. The play was designed for [tight end] Travis Kelce -- and I think Travis is wide open -- but you have these alerts in your plays and how [safety Brandon Jones] was sitting with Xavier's speed, I knew he was going to have a chance down the field. I've just got to give him a chance. I miss that one."
Mahomes is being more than a little disingenuous here. Deep throws come with a razor-thin margin for error, and the Broncos missed a couple as well. The Chiefs lost because their wide receivers mostly disappeared after those early shots, and Denver’s game plan was clearly to take them away and let tight end Travis Kelce catch short throws. The painful penalties and small mistakes didn't help any, either.
The result was a painful loss that changes the Chiefs’ goals going forward. They’re now focused on making the playoffs rather than winning the division, but even that will be an uphill battle.
"It's going to be tough to get back in the division race," Mahomes said. "The goal is to get into the playoffs and try to make a run at it. We've got to learn from this one as much as possible, knowing we're going to get a great opponent [in the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts] coming into Arrowhead [Stadium] next week.
"We're kind of at that point where we've got to find a way to win games."