The Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Buffalo Bills for the fifth consecutive time in the regular season on Sunday, but one factor made this defeat stand out from the rest.
ESPN’s Ben Solak detailed on social media how, based on a specific and meaningful statistic, Patrick Mahomes played the worst game of his NFL career in the defeat.
“Patrick Mahomes had a 44.1 percent completion percentage today (15-for-34),” Solak wrote. “In 142 career games, that’s the worst figure. First time ever below 50 percent.”
Mahomes spoke about his struggles, and the Bills’ successes on defense, with reporters during the postgame press conference following just the second loss in Kansas City’s last seven games.
“They had a really good plan, man,” Mahomes said. “They have good pass rushers.”
Those pass-rushers impacted the contest all afternoon, with 15 quarterback hits and three sacks. They also frequently changed the situation for Mahomes in the pocket, upon which he elaborated.
“When they’re playing the man-type coverages, [I was] just trying to get some guys open down the field, and they did a good job of pushing the pocket. So I’ve gotta be better at working the pocket, finding different lanes to step up through,” Mahomes said. “But when I was able to, we were able to hit some shots down the field. But it’s just gotta be more consistent with that.”
Patrick Mahomes Converted Longest 4th-Down Play of Career Against Bills on 4th-Quarter TD Drive
GettyKansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Somewhat ironically, Mahomes also set a career-high with a conversion on a fourth-and-17 play in the fourth quarter that led to a touchdown and two-point play closing the score gap to 28-21. It was the longest fourth-down conversion in Mahomes’ nine years in the league.
“Big play, obviously. Getting into the end zone on that drive on the fourth-and-one [play] as well,” Mahomes said. “We were kinda in that range where it was too long of a field goal, but there was no reason to really punt. So, I mean, coach gave us a chance, and Rashee [Rice] did a great job getting open in like the last window. So big play, but obviously we didn’t capitalize on the momentum of that play.”
Mahomes finished the day with 250 passing yards and one interception, which came on the Chiefs’ second-to-last drive of the game.
Chiefs Face Brutal Schedule Coming Out of Bye Next Week
GettyQuarterback Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
After an 0-2 start to the season, the Chiefs have moved to 5-4 heading into their bye week.
Kansas City is still on the outside looking in at the AFC playoff picture, though the team currently occupies the No. 8 spot in the standings, and seven teams from the conference will make the postseason.
That said, the Chiefs have a tough schedule awaiting them when they return to the field on November 16, with back-to-back games against the Denver Broncos (7-2) and Indianapolis Colts (7-2). Both teams are tied for the best record in the NFL through Week 9.
“We’ve had great moments, we’ve had bad moments. We gotta be more consistent as a team, I gotta be more consistent at quarterback,” Mahomes said. “We’ve kind of been in a lot of these tight, close games in our history, but they’re not going our way now. So 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 gotta learn from it fast. And it’s gonna be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up to it.”
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