Are Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs at the tipping point after a Christmas meltdown?
With a chance to clinch the AFC West for the eighth straight season on Monday against the Las Vegas Raiders, the defending Super Bowl champions crumbled in the second quarter after consecutive mistakes by star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, both resulting in touchdowns.
First, he botched a handoff from Isiah Pacheco on a trick play. The ball was recovered by defensive tackle Bilal Nichols. Just seven seconds later, he was intercepted by Jack Jones, leaving Mahomes visibly upset.
The Chiefs would lose 14-20 despite a late offensive flurry; and worse, Mahomes’ wife Brittany and Travis Kelce’s girlfriend Taylor Swift were in attendance. The former even shared some snaps with son Patrick Lavon III aka Bronze in an Instagram post.
Patrick Mahomes discusses Chiefs’ outlook after loss to Raiders
One can forgive Patrick Mahomes for feeling low during the festive season, but speaking to reporters after the game, he refused to dwell on the negatives and instead decided to look toward what could be done next.
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“I still believe that we can go do what we want to do,” he said (via ESPN). “It’s just how can we correct it as quickly as possible. We’re two games left, then the playoffs, so all you can do is move on, get better, and try to be better the next time we step on the field.”
The two games come against the struggling Cincinnati Bengals and the already-eliminated Los Angeles Chargers, but even against such opposition, consistency is key, according to the quarterback.
“We kind of had one good game, one bad game, one good game, one bad game, but we have to be more consistent because when you get to the playoffs, you have to string some together,” he added.
But to do so, the Chiefs must prioritize minimizing turnovers, dropped passes, and offensive penalties, which they are among the league’s leaders in.
“If we clean it up, we’ll be able to score points. It’s just [that] we’ve got to. You have to do it and if we don’t, we’ll be going home. I truly believe that, but we got to prove that we can do it,” Mahomes said.
They currently stand at 9-6, with the Raiders and Denver Broncos tied at 7-8 apiece.
