The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in unfamiliar territory. They are 0-2 for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. The last time they were 0-2 was in 2014 when they missed the playoffs for the only time in the Andy Reid era. What’s going on?
A major problem that the Chiefs have is that Patrick Mahomes is doing it all. He is not getting contributions from his teammates, and it doesn’t matter how great a player is; he can’t be expected to do everything for the team. The rushing numbers for this team are horrifying.
In the first game, Mahomes rushed for 57 yards. In the second game, he ran for 66. Normally, it is nice to see a quarterback be able to contribute to the team’s run game to this extent.
The issue is that these numbers are not a contribution. This is all Kansas City has on the ground. The second leading rusher for each game had 25 and 31 yards, respectively.
That means Mahomes has been the Chiefs’ leading rusher by more than double. That is unacceptable and, frankly, just not sustainable, because at some point, he is going to wear down. He is on pace to rush for 1000 yards, and if he reaches that number, I’m willing to bet they are not a playoff team.
Not only has the run game been bad, but Travis Kelce has also had a slow start. On one of the opening plays of the season in Brazil, Kelce accidentally ran into Xavier Worthy across the middle of the field, and Worthy was ruled out due to injury. The injury itself was a pretty significant one, as he tore his labrum.
Kelce had another gaffe in week two against the Philadelphia Eagles when he was unable to catch the ball in the goal line, and it landed into the hands of the Eagles defender. The Chiefs were on Philadelphia’s six-yard line early in the fourth, down 13-10. Mahomes threw a pass that hit Kelce right in the hands that would have put them up 17-13, and that could’ve been enough to win the game.
Instead, the Eagles intercepted it and then later went down and scored, making it 20-10. An 11-point swing that sealed the game. Mahomes hasn’t been perfect either, but he has been doing everything for this team, and if the others don’t step it up, it will be a long season.
This next issue is less tangible and a bit harder to prove, but those who watch the games will understand what I mean. Over the last few years, the Chiefs have built an aura that felt eerie to opposing teams. I really believe that it formed when they won the Super Bowl in the 2023-2024 season.
In that season, the Kansas City Offense had real cracks in its armor. Mahomes had a 92.6 passer rating, which was by far his lowest at that point in his career. From 2018 to 2022, he had never thrown for fewer than 30 touchdowns when playing an entire season.
In 2019, he had 26, but he missed a few games. In the 2023 season, he had 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, which was by far his worst touchdown-to-interception ratio at that point. The Chiefs’ offensive production as a whole dipped when they averaged just 21.8 points per game that year. In the years prior, they were always near 30.
I brought those numbers up to say this. That was the year to dethrone Kansas City. The offense, for the first time under Mahomes, looked vulnerable all season long. They also won 11 games, which is a significant drop off from their usual 13-14 win seasons. Despite all that, they won the Super Bowl anyway.
If the Chiefs win it all in a down year, then the rest of the league is screwed. There is no doubt in my mind that sentiment infected the rest of the league, then came the 2024 season.
Kansas City once again was not its typical explosive self on offense. Mahomes had another “down year” according to his standards, and it became clear that this was a defense-driven team. Despite the Chiefs not looking great week to week, they won 15 games!
They would win at the end of the game inexplicably, and that led to jokes online about their use of black magic to win games. It got to a point that when Kansas City trailed by seven, 10, 14 in the fourth, people fully believed they were going to come back and win.
That same mystique, however, does not exist today. The Chiefs were down double figures in each of the fourth quarters in weeks one and two. Their comeback attempt on both attempts didn’t even come close. When I was watching, there was no fear on my end that they would come back.
Kansas City always required its opponents to play a perfect game to beat them. Now it feels like they are the ones with no margin for error. It is incredibly weird to see.
To clarify, I’m not saying the Chiefs are screwed and all of a sudden are going to the playoffs. As long as they have Mahomes, Kelce, and Andy Reid, they are going to be a threat no matter what. They just look the most vulnerable.
They just don’t look like the juggernauts of years past. They look more vulnerable than ever and other teams no longer fear them. I will say this, though: If this team somehow makes a run at the Super Bowl, the rest of the league may have to shut down and relocate.
That would be devastating. It would be the 2023 season on steroids.
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