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. His best work was ahead of him. His most important work was behind him. 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. 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. 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 remind the exact words, they remembered the “vibes,” as Travis Kelce would put it. No excuses. “It’s on us,” linebacker Nick Bolton said. “He’s been focused more than I’ve ever seen him focused,” Kelce told me. 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. Chiefs quarterback
Patrick Mahomes, at center of pile, is sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. during Sunday afternoon’s game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, at center of pile, is sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. during Sunday afternoon’s game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. David Butler II USA TODAY Sports His day first: 27 of 37 for 305 yards, two touchdowns and
two interceptions. The Chiefs: Their own receivers had hands on each of the interceptions first, and Kelce had his hands on a touchdown that fell incomplete. 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. Themselves. 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.
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. 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 this organization is stuck waiting for that talent to surpass the mistakes, and 15 weeks is a terribly long time to wait. 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. Good enough to beat anyone. Because that guy at his best is better than everyone.
But hold your breath about the rest. 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.
