Chiefs vs. Patriots: The 6 most frustrating moments for Kansas City
By Drew Brooks
6. COSTLY SACKS
Another area that the Chiefs hurt themselves in was the costly sacks they took. And they weren’t short sacks either, they were long sacks that greatly affected the game’s outcome. One such sack was when Patriots’ defensive end Trey Flowers dropped Patrick Mahomes for a loss of 14-yards late in the second quarter:
The Chiefs were still scoreless and were facing 3rd-and-9, but were in field goal range. At this point, the Chiefs trailed 7-0 and a field goal would have kept them very much in the game. Instead, Patrick Mahomes was flushed out of the pocket immediately and dropped outside of field goal range.
As a result, the Chiefs were forced to punt, which led to the Patriots driving downfield and taking a 14-0 lead before halftime. If the Chiefs had kicked a field goal, the end result of the game would have likely been very different.
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Had the offensive line done a better job of protecting Mahomes and given him more time to sit in the pocket, perhaps he could have thrown the ball away or completed a pass for a first down. Perhaps Mahomes needs to be aware of the situation and throw the ball away when he senses the inevitable sack, but that will come with experience. Plays like this were killer to the Chiefs throughout the game.