KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The quarterback who has worn a yellow no-contact jersey for the past six weeks sprinted to the sideline, not in search of reprieve but in search of risk.
Patrick Mahomes could have stepped out of bounds on a third-quarter scramble, could have avoided contact altogether after clearing the first-down marker, but instead he sought the hit. He lowered his shoulder and planted Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Donte Jackson on his backside.
The point isn’t the toughness of the play.
It’s that Mahomes felt the need to make it.
It’s why he felt the need to make it.
The Chiefs failed to match the demands of their quarterback in a 27-21 loss to the Chargers at Neo Química Arena in São Paulo, Brazil. And I don’t mean in terms of execution, because Mahomes wasn’t at his best for much of the night.
I mean in the most basic of requirements: emotion. Intensity.
You know, their best effort.
It’s all head coach Andy Reid could talk about after the game – the Chiefs coming out flat for an opening quarter in which they were outgained 145-33. He couldn’t explain why and expectedly took responsibility, sidestepping when asked if Xavier Worthy’s first-series injury contributed.
But whatever the excuse, it left this picture: the most prized possession in football – the health of Patrick Mahomes – put on the line, and not for an extra yard or even an inch, but because it was all he could think to do to spark his team.
“Sometimes, you just have to do something to jumpstart the team,” he said. “I was not in the mood to be running out of bounds. I wanted to do something to get us going.”
It would have been a nice story, except, how is this the team in need of a jumpstart anyway?
Look, we all understand that a group that has played in three straight Super Bowls and five of the last six might have trouble believing all games are created equally. But come on: This was opening night, a standalone prime-time game in a foreign country, in front of an energetic crowd, a game the NFL clearly wanted to set viewership records with on a free YouTube broadcast and a matchup against a division rival.
How can we be talking about a lack of emotion?
This team talked extensively about the bad taste left from its Super Bowl embarrassment, then decided to chew on that feeling a little longer.
That bitterness ought to cut more sharply than the Super Bowl shellacking. Teams have bad days. To open flat is inexcusable, given the setting. And given no one has more experience in these kinds of settings, you have to question the length of the hangover.
By game’s end, a group without much emotion early was suddenly full of it. Which, by the way, linebacker Drue Tranquill wasn’t wrong in what he said to Chris Jones, even if he could have waited for a better spot. Like, say, the locker room.
Jones tried to make a hero play on the Chargers’ final third-down conversion, leaving his assignment and containment lane to rush the passer. L.A. quarterback Justin Herbert easily scrambled to the edge Jones abandoned for a first down. Game over. A fitting end.
The Chiefs didn’t need another hero play Friday. They had one at quarterback.
They just needed a supporting cast to do its part, without assuming Mahomes would save the day. A basketball team with a 7-footer still needs its guards and wings to box out.
The Chiefs’ star, the NFL’s brightest, did play hero ball Friday in Brazil, at least in the second half. The scramble that opened this column set up another rush for a touchdown.
One drive later, on third down, Mahomes somehow flicked a pass as his body fell sideways, against the grain of his momentum. The throw landed right on target, into the lap of receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster for a first down.
Yet another drive later, Mahomes was sprinting to the sideline after Khalil Mack needed about half a second to beat left guard Kingsley Suamataia on a rush – and Mahomes still heaved the ball 49 yards to Hollywood Brown to keep the Chiefs alive.
After his own tough start, he put the team on his back.
They refused the ride.
The defense played like it will require a terrific offense. Using the term “pass rush” feels contradictory to what we saw. They were manhandled at the line of scrimmage most of the night, which was at the heart of Reid’s rare postgame message. The safeties were targeted often, and they were beaten often. They lost track of seemingly every receiver.
Right tackle Jawaan Taylor lost track of, well, the line of scrimmage again. Travis Kelce head-butted him after one penalty. Hey, some fire, at least. There were flashes of it, sure. Tranquill shouldn’t regret his play, and he’s not alone. But that shouldn’t be a short list.
The offense that found points on its last five drives gained just 28 yards on its first three. It lost the line-of-scrimmage battle, too. If the Chiefs are clipping first-half highlights, they’re leading with the fire drill of a field goal attempt. Mahomes isn’t absolved from that. Nor the next stat: His first 17 pass attempts totaled 57 yards.
He was off.
The emotion can’t be.
“You don’t come out and play with the right mindset, you get beat,” Mahomes said.
He was visibly irked after the game. Reid, too. They’re not typically happy after losses, but this was as close as they come to calling out players, even if they didn’t single anyone out. They delivered purposeful messages.
The Chiefs were short-handed Friday. Rashee Rice served the first of a six-game suspension. Worthy certainly was a significant part of the game plan, and then his significance in the game ended after one series.
That puts an asterisk on the result – but not on the lack of physical play in a game they knew would demand it.
“I expect more than that,” Reid said. “I have to make sure we come out with a little better emotion. It was a nice big stage for us against a good football team.”
There were two good football teams. One of them apparently left its best in Kansas City.
But, hey, 16 games left. It’s early. There’s time. On to next week.
Oh, right, the Eagles are coming to town.
Should be an emotional one, right?