To secure the AFC West division and maintain their pursuit of the top seed in the AFC, the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs went into their matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday.
However, the Chiefs’ bad run continued on Christmas Day as they lost 20-14 at Arrowhead Stadium to the Las Vegas Raiders. In the second quarter, Raiders cornerback Jack Jones intercepted a ball intended for Patrick Mahomes and returned it for a touchdown.
Despite having trouble scoring for much of the game, the Chiefs offense eventually scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to reduce the lead to six points. The great quarterback for Kansas City is still confident that the Chiefs are going to succeed despite their current bad run.
Following the game, Mahomes told ESPN, “I still believe that we can go do what we want to do”.
The two-time NFL MVP admitted that his club hasn’t always been consistent this year.
“You catch hints of it. You catch a few moments of us kicking the football. You catch a few moments where we score in the red zone. At this point in the season, we haven’t done it consistently enough, game in and game out. We sort of had one great game, one awful game, one excellent game, and one bad game, but we need to be more consistent because you have to string them together when you go to the playoffs.”
This season, the Chiefs wide receiver group has been under continual criticism. The fact that Kansas City led the league in both offensive penalties and dropped passes going into Week 16 only served to further scrutinize the team.
During a Monday night game against the Eagles in Week 11, Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a crucial drop in the fourth quarter that essentially decided the Chiefs’ fate. On Sunday, a player for the New England Patriots was able to intercept a throw from quarterback Patrick Mahomes thanks to a tip from Kadarius Toney.
Mahomes stated, “We’ll be able to score points if we clean it up.” Simply said, we need to clean it up. Two games remain. You must complete this task; otherwise, we will return home.
“We can defeat anyone if we tidy it up. That is my sincere belief, but we need to demonstrate our ability first.”
This season, injuries have also affected the Chiefs’ offense. Due to a groin issue, the organization has placed running back Jerick McKinnon on the injured reserve list. Isiah Pacheco, the starting running back, sustained a concussion in the second half of Monday’s game and did not come back.