The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Atlanta Falcons 22-17 on Sunday Night Football. While Chiefs are not playing their best football, they remain undefeated heading into Week 4.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 26-of-39 passes for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Mahomes was highly critical of his own performance after the game, noting how something feels off. “I have to get my base right,” he said. “I’m trusting my arm too much on some of those throws.”
However, very few of Mahomes’ throws are going to Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who’s typically his most reliable target. For the third week in a row, Kelce barely made a dent on offense, catching 4-of-5 targets for 30 yards.
When Mahomes was asked why he wasn’t getting the ball to Kelce, his explanation immediately raised some eyebrows.
Patrick Mahomes on Travis Kelce's low output through three games:
"The respect factor [teams] have for Travis is unreal…we're calling a lot of plays for Travis, and it's like two or three people going to him" pic.twitter.com/jxv7udBiZq
— Landon Reinhardt (@landonian87) September 23, 2024
“The respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal,” Mahomes said of the coverage Kelce receives from opponents. “It’s well deserved.”
“But I mean we’re calling a lot of plays for Travis and it’s like two or three people are going to him, so I mean he understands. I think that’s the great thing about him is he wants to make an impact on the game but he wants to win at the end of the day. I’m going to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s open.”
However, there were several moments against the Falcons during which Kelce was wide open and Mahomes didn’t give him a look. One fan replied to Mahomes’ comments,
“I’m not tryna be an ass and question dad but nah this is like 50% cap.” Another fan posted, “not him tryna gaslight us we ALL watched the game.” One person simply wrote, “lying >>>.”
really pat???
— andrea ⸆⸉ (@killaswizzle) September 23, 2024
Hopefully, Mahomes and Kelce find their magic sooner rather than later. Next up, the Chiefs host the Los Angeles Chargers on September 25.
