Kansas City Chiefs still team to beat in AFC despite loss
By Mike Norris
The odds were against the Kansas City Chiefs from the start when they kicked off against the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football, but they proved they are still one of the best teams in the NFL.
For the second straight season, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their sixth game after a 5-0 start, but unlike last year, there shouldn’t be as much concern following a 43-40 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes looked human in the first half, losing for the first time in seven career starts after going 14-of-23 with 164 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions in the first 30 minutes.
Mahomes, who began the season tossing 14 touchdowns before throwing one interception, wasn’t going to be Superman all season. In reality, this is his rookie season. Peyton Manning threw an NFL-high 28 interceptions his first year while Drew Brees threw just 17 touchdowns to 16 picks his inaugural season under center.
Both signal callers will waltz into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. As long as Mahomes is making plays like this one, Chiefs fans don’t need to worry about their guy in the long run.
https://twitter.com/Chiefs/status/1051655179794141184
In the second half, the former Texas Tech Red Raider showed why the Chiefs traded up to take him with the number ten overall pick in the 2017 draft, finishing the night with 352 yards, four touchdowns and the two first-half interceptions.
The obvious problem for the Chiefs in this game was the defense. The unit as a whole was allowing 25.8 points per game this season, so a match-up against the Patriots on the road had many Chiefs fans nervous heading into the contest.
It didn’t help that Kansas City was down to one healthy outside linebacker following last week’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and safeties Eric Berry, Eric Murray and Armani Watts were not in the lineup while nursing injuries.
Brady sliced and diced the defense for 340 yards and one touchdown through the air, while New England rushers combined for 173 yards on 38 carries — an average of 4.6 per play.
But Chiefs fans, listen up, this result should not be a huge concern moving forward. If a team is going to lose a game on its schedule, at New England is not a bad one.