KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense had an opportunity to make a statement against the NFL’s worst defense in the Denver Broncos, but struggles in the red-zone and third-and-short situations kept Kansas City in check despite a 19-8 win Thursday night.
“Just obviously red zones, some third downs, we just didn’t execute at a high enough level,” Mahomes said after the game. “I still think there were a lot of good things we can take from it. We just have to continue to get better and better.”
The Broncos’ defense in theory posed little challenge to Mahomes and the Kansas City offense. Denver entered the game ranked last in the league, allowing 36.2 points per game, 450.6 total yards, 187.6 yards rush, and 5.9 yards per carry. The Broncos fielded the worst defense through the first five weeks of the season of any NFL team since at least 1981, based on the defense-adjusted value over average metric.
Kansas City’s offense fell short of those averages Thursday night, tallying 389 yards of offense and just 96 yards on the ground at a 3.6-yard clip against the league’s worst run defense.
The team’s biggest struggles, however, came in the red zone and short-yardage situations. The Chiefs scored just a single touchdown on five trips inside the red zone, creating just 13 points with an interception and a turnover on downs. Kansas City converted just 4-of-13 on third down, including just 1-of-5 inside the red zone.
Thursday night’s game certainly proved an outlier on third down for the Chiefs, who entered the contest leading the NFL with a 51.5% success rate on third down. Even on third-and-2 or less, the Chiefs have converted 64.7% of the time this season. Thursday night they failed in three tries.
The team’s only real success on third down came late in the first half when Mahomes connected with Kadarius Toney for the team’s only touchdown on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
“We had one good one and then came back with a not-so-good one,” head coach Andy Reid said. “We got to take care of business with that. Again, I’ll take that one. Obviously, that wasn’t good enough.”
Six games is more than one-third of the NFL season and at this point, the Chiefs offense hasn’t met its own lofty expectations. Travis Kelce leads the team in receiving with 36 catches for 346 yards and three touchdowns. If he continues that pace playing all 11 regular-season games remaining, Kelce is on track for a record eighth-straight 1,000-yard season for a tight end, albeit the lowest total of that stretch.
Rookie Rashee Rice is second on the team with 245 yards on 21 catches. He’s on pace for 694 yards, which would rank as the third-best season ever for a rookie under Reid as a head coach. Only DeSean Jackson (912) and Jeremy Maclin (773) in Philadelphia had more. Tyreek Hill currently ranks third on that list with 593 yards.
Rice may be in line for even more playing time in light of Justin Watson’s dislocated elbow. Watson ranks third on the team with 219 yards receiving and has been the club’s best deep threat, averaging 21.9 yards per catch. Rice played 35 snaps against Denver, his second most of the season after playing 39 against Chicago in Week 3.
“Yeah listen, he’s been getting better every week,” Reid said. “I think you guys see that. He’s explosive, strong after the catch. So, that’s why.”
But the one thing the wide-receiver-by-committee approach has yet to identify is a true lead receiver. Rice leads the group in yards despite ranking fourth in snap counts, participating in just 38% of the team’s offensive plays. Marquez Valdes-Scantling leads the team at 62% followed by Skyyy Moore at 60% but that duo has combined for fewer catches (18) than Rice while tallying 261 yards combined.
Mahomes says that he still feels his receiver group is making plays when needed.
“Skky on the out-route in there at the end of the game, Rashee with the big catch, guys are making plays when it counts,” he said. “As we continue in the season, we have to continue to get better and better so that hopefully when we get to the playoffs, we’re hitting our stride and we can really match our defense in regards of intensity.”
Reid still believes the receiver group and the offense has what it takes to compete for back-to-back Super Bowl championships. The challenge lies in eliminating mistakes, improving chemistry between Mahomes and the team’s young receivers, and refining techniques against the ever-present zone coverages defenses are deploying against the team’s passing attack.
“We strive for something better than what we’re doing right now, and we’ve got a good (Los Angeles) Chargers team coming in here next,” Reid said. “We’ll get back to the drawing board on this thing and we’ll work to get better.”
Despite the inconsistency on offense, the Chiefs sit atop the AFC West at 5-1 thanks to a defense that ranks No. 2 in the league in scoring average. In recent seasons, it has been Mahomes and the offense allowing a young defense to find its footing early in the season. Now the tables are turned.
“Luckily for us, our defense has been playing great so we can go through these growing pains and try to get better and better,” Mahomes said. “The talent’s there, you can see it in spurts but we have to learn how to sustain drives, get down into the red zone, score touchdowns, and make it easier on our defense to play free.”
