Patrick Mahomes is not having a great start to the 2024 NFL season in terms of stats. However, no one on the Kansas City Chiefs seem to be concerned about it. Andy Reid made that clear recently, and the quarterback also downplayed this situation, warning the rest of the league that he only cares about winning.
“When we win, [scoring fewer points] doesn’t hurt as bad,” Mahomes said, via Arrowhead Pride. “Obviously, I want to be perfect. I want to be great. I [also] don’t want to put our defense in bad positions like I did the other day. But at the end of the day, I want to win.“
The Chiefs arrived in Week 9 as the only undefeated team in the 2024 NFL season, riding on a perfect 7-0 record. This becomes even more remarkable if we consider Mahomes’ low production, the opponents they’ve faced and the number of injured players in offense.
A strong defense and a prolific running game have so far been keys to the Chiefs‘ success this season. While Mahomes would like to improve the passing game, he’s willing to sacrifice his own numbers if that benefits the team.
“However we have to win the football game, I’m good with it — if that’s scoring a lot of touchdowns, not scoring touchdowns [or] if that’s running the football. Whatever it is — [even] if it’s playing defense to win football games — I just want to win at the end of the day. I think we’re doing a great job of that,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes addresses the Chiefs’ hard-fought wins in 2024
With more interceptions (9) than touchdowns (8) after seven games (the Chiefs had a bye in Week 6), Mahomes’ form has taken many by surprise. Of course, the quarterback knows he can do better.
“We want to go in and score as many points as possible. I’m not going to act like we don’t want to score,” Mahomes said, as only two of Kansas City’s wins in the 2024 NFL season were by 10+ points:
- Week 1: Chiefs 27-20 Ravens
- Week 2: Chiefs 26-25 Bengals
- Week 3: Falcons 17-22 Chiefs
- Week 4: Chargers 10-17 Chiefs
- Week 5: Chiefs 26-13 Saints
- Week 7: 49ers 18-28 Chiefs
- Week 8: Raiders 20-27 Chiefs
Andy Reid backs Mahomes
Even though Mahomes has been unable to throw deep passes like in other years, Reid is not expecting something different from his signal-caller. In the coach’s eyes, the Chiefs star is doing what’s necessary to get victories.
“[They’re] doing a nice job with their shell coverage — which is allowing us to get light yards underneath — it’s just not the big chunk plays. [But] I’m okay with whatever they present defensively. We’ve got to use what we have there. Teams would show you shell coverage — and [Mahomes] would have to kind of get used to that whole deal. Now, he sees it, handles it, gets it to his guys [and] gets the ball out of his hands. He’s a great player. He manages everything. It’s like having a coach on the field,” Reid said.