Patrick Mahomes: ‘I didn’t execute at a high enough level’ for Chiefs

The Chiefs put away the Patriots by 16 points, but Patrick Mahomes wasn’t pleased with his performance.

If you only saw the video or transcript of Patrick Mahomes’ remarks to reporters after Week 4, it’d be easy to assume the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the New England Patriots.

The Chiefs quarterback was frustrated by his own performance in the Chiefs 16-point win over the visiting Patriots on Monday and anyone who watched the game will understand why. Mahomes was quite fortunate that multiple potential interceptions were dropped or nullified by the officials.

The stat line reads like a nice enough effort from Mahomes, albeit not a particularly memorable performance, with 19 completions among 29 passes for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns to go with 0 interceptions. However, the Patriots were able to stifle the Chiefs offense for nearly three full quarters, and the Chiefs went without scoring a touchdown until well into the second half.

After the game, Mahomes was quick to own his mistakes.  “As for us, I felt like, especially me, I didn’t execute at a high enough level when you’re playing against a defense like that if you want to go out and have success.”

When asked about the offense’s inability to find the end zone, Mahomes said it was on him to find his teammates.

"“They played well,” said Mahomes. “When guys were open, it seemed like I wasn’t finding them. I could see it on the tablet after I’d go to the sideline. We were calling plays that were getting guys open. I’ve just gotta be able to be the guy to find them and get it to those guys so that they can make those plays happen.”"

The Chiefs had no problems moving the chains during the opening drive of the game and on early successive drives. Long strikes to Tyreek Hill, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Sammy Watkins, and Travis Kelce all moved the ball downfield, but drives often stalled at inopportune times. The Patriots defense came away with early wins when holding the Chiefs to short field goals via Harrison Butker.

"“Early in the game, we were moving the ball the way we wanted to move it,” said Mahomes. “We were doing stuff the right way, and we couldn’t figure out ways to get into the end zone. Then they obviously got some stops there in the middle. But I’m proud of how the guys fought at the end of the game. That easily could have went the other direction. They had a lot of the momentum, but the defense got some stops and we found ways to score whenever it counted.”"

For many quarterbacks, the performance would have been acceptable enough, justified by the victory over Bill Belichick and the team’s undefeated record. However, for a former NFL Most Valuable Player committed to chasing greatness, those mistakes leave an unsatisfactory taste even after another win in primetime.