Patrick Mahomes Admits Chiefs Face ‘Uphill Battle’ Sitting Outside Playoffs

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs currently find themselves in a very unfamiliar position — sitting outside the NFL playoff picture. 

“It’s going to be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up to it,” Mahomes told reporters after the team’s 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, November 2. If the postseason started today, the Chiefs would not make the playoffs. 

“There’s no easy games coming up,” Mahomes continued. “There’s no more chances that we can really take losses. We’ve got to be better as a team.”

With a 5-4 record, the Chiefs are two games back of the AFC West leading Denver Broncos and a half-game back of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who currently own the AFC’s final playoff spot. 

Kansas City now heads into their bye week with a showdown with the Broncos in Denver looming on November 16. According to ESPN, this marks the first time the Chiefs have entered their bye week outside the playoff picture since Mahomes, 30, took over as starting quarterback in 2018. 

After their game against the Broncos (7-2), the Chiefs host the Indianapolis Colts on November 23, who are currently tied with the Broncos and New England Patriots for the best record in the NFL. 

“We’ve had great moments and we’ve had bad moments,” Mahomes said on Sunday. “We’ve got to be more consistent as a team, I’ve got to be more consistent and we’ve been in a lot of these tight, close games in our history, but they’re not going our way.”

He added, “How can we deal with that adversity? You can only learn from so many losses. You’ve got to learn from it fast.”

Mahomes finished Sunday’s game 15-for-34 passing for 250 yards, one interception and zero touchdowns. 

It marked the first time Mahomes had been held under a 50% completion rate in his career, a streak of 142 games that served as an NFL record. 

Mahomes, who was sacked three times, credited the Bills for coming up with “a really good plan” to thwart the Chiefs’ high-powered offense. 

“They have good pass rushers,” Mahomes said. “When they’re playing man-type coverages, and [we’re] trying to get some guys open down the field, they did a good job of pushing the pocket. I have to be better at working [within] the pocket, finding different lanes to step up through. I’ve got to be more consistent with that.”

Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid, acknowledged his team’s effort and preparation wasn’t nearly good enough on Sunday. 

“We’ve got to do a little better than that, obviously, when you’re playing a good football team,” Reid, 67, told reporters. “It starts with me doing my job better and giving our guys an opportunity and put them in good positions where they can make some plays.”

Reid added, “I’ve got a good locker room there. Rest up, and they’ll come back strong. That’s what we do. Guys are nicked up here, or throughout the year here. They’ve got to make sure they get in and get worked on.”