The Kansas City Chiefs have won five consecutive games after that shocking upset in Week 1. They continue to be the team to beat in the AFC, and the reigning Super Bowl champions will always be a threat for as long as they’re healthy.
Nonetheless, they no longer seem to be the offensive behemoth they’ve been for years. On the flip side, they have a top-five defense in most metrics for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
The Chiefs’ offense currently ranks ninth in points and fourth in total yards. Nonetheless, they only have one 30-point game this season, and most of their offensive numbers — especially in the red zone — have gone down when compared to last season.
That’s why Mahomes has looked quite frustrated with the offense’s performance. He believes the team needs to execute better and take care of the ‘little things,’ and he even took some of the blame for their miscues.
Patrick Mahomes Wants Chiefs To Pay Attention To Detail
“I said that after the game and even watching the film, you see it even more,” Mahomes told the media, as quoted by ProFootballTalk. “It’s just the little stuff that we’re not executing at a high enough level. It’s not everybody, and it’s different people every single play, including myself.”
Mahomes praised his team and the coaching staff for getting better every week, but he knows they can still do a lot better and sounded onfident in their ability to do so:
“In this league, in order to have these sustained drives, and score touchdowns, get in the end zone and score against good defenses, you have to execute — everybody, coaches included, and I think that’s something that we have to continue to get better and better at,” he continued. “I think if we start executing at a high enough level, we have the talent, and we have the play calls, so let’s just continue to get better and better.”
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The Bieniemy Effect
It’s worth noting that the Chiefs lost their top assistant, Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who left to join Ron Rivera and the Washington Commanders. He had been the architect of this offense, and even though he didn’t always call the plays, his impact on the offense was more than evident.
Eric Bieniemy
Mahomes’ numbers have taken a slight dip sans Bieniemy. He went from 308.8 passing yards to ‘just’ 265.5 this season. Also, his passer rating has gone down from 105.2 to 95.7, and he’s thrown at least one interception in four out of six games this season.
Of course, the Chiefs boast less talent in the receiving corps than they used to.They recently traded for a familiar face in Mecole Hardman, hoping to get another reliable and consistent pass catcher besides Travis Kelce to bolster their offense.
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At the end of the day, the Chiefs will continue to be the strongest candidate to come out of the AFC. And if they manage to make these minor tweaks to their offense, it’s hard to envision any team standing in their way to back-to-back titles.
