Chiefs’ Mahomes: ‘I’ve got to get better’

.

.

.

Full video:

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he has room for improvement after the team’s 22-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

Patrick Mahomes on 3-0 start: ‘I feel like I haven’t played very well’

Despite the Chiefs’ undefeated start, Mahomes discusses the offensive struggles in their Week 3 victory over the Falcons.

The Kansas City Chiefs continue to find ways to win close games.

In their latest contest, the Chiefs edged out the Atlanta Falcons 22-17 on Sunday night, advancing to 3-0 on the season. But while the victory adds to their unbeaten record, it also underscored the team’s ongoing issues on offense.

The unit stalled on a potential game-clinching drive late in the fourth quarter, leaving it to the defense to, once again, save the day as the Falcons marched down the field.

“We need to do a better job offensively on that last drive and not put the defense in that position,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game. “But we stepped up on the defensive side and did a nice job of holding them out of there.”

Despite being undefeated, the Chiefs’ victories have come with a sense of distress as the offense, led by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, has yet to truly hit its stride. As he often does, Mahomes put the responsibility for the offense’s sluggish start on his shoulders, admitting after the game that he hasn’t played very well to start this season.

“We haven’t played well, in really, all three games,” Mahomes admitted postgame. “We’ve been able to win, and that speaks to the character of the team, the grit, and how we’ve been in these situations before. But I’ll speak especially offensively for me, I feel like I haven’t played very well. That’s not a stats thing. 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, that’s about me getting back to my fundamentals, putting our guys in the right position, and then we 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.”

Mahomes’ stat line for the night — 26 of 39 passing for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception — reflects his ongoing struggles by his own high standards. He has now thrown an interception in each of the first three games, a trend highlighting poor decision-making and accuracy issues, which he attributes to bad fundamentals, particularly his footwork.

“I got to get my base right,” Mahomes said, when asked about his struggles on offense. “I think I’m trusting my arm too much on some of those throws. Even the first throw of the game, I just kind of flicked it off balance and didn’t hit Rashee [Rice] going down the seam there. I got to get back to my fundamentals. That’s just stuff that I go through sometimes. Not usually early in the season like this, but luckily for me, I’m not playing my best football and we’re still getting wins. So, I got to get better to make the offense better.”

That acknowledged, the one bright spot in the offense has been wide receiver Rashee Rice. The second-year wideout accounted for more than half of Mahomes’ passing yards, finishing with a game-high 12 receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. It was Rice’s second 100-yard performance of the season and second game in a row scoring a touchdown as he continues to develop as the go-to target in the Chiefs’ passing game.

“He’s a guy who’s going to make plays happen,” Mahomes said of Rice. “He’s done a great job of when they’re putting all that attention on Travis (Kelce), he’s making stuff happen underneath. I’m sure defenses are going to start adjusting to try to put more coverage toward him. That’s when Travis will make plays, that’s when (Xavier) Worthy will make plays, or Juju (Smith-Schuster) or whoever. He’s a legit, number one receiver. You see that every single week, he’s making more and more plays. I’m just super proud of what he’s done already, but I think he has another level he can even unlock.”

However, while his performance was excellent, Rice himself was not satisfied. Following Mahomes’ lead, the young receiver remains focused on improving, knowing that there’s still work that needs to be done for the offense to reach its full potential.

“I love that just because he’s the greatest quarterback I’ve ever played with, so whenever he feels like he hasn’t had a great game, I feel the same way,” Rice said. “So, we just got to get back to practice so we can do better together.”