Kansas City Chiefs lose at home, fail to clinch AFC West،
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Even after one of their ugliest games of the season, Patrick Mahomes said he sees a way for the Kansas City Chiefs to reach the heights they've been able to reach over the past few years. recent seasons.
“I still believe we can do what we want,” Mahomes said after a 20-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders that set the Chiefs back at least a week from winning an eighth straight AFC title West.
“It’s just a matter of how can we correct this as quickly as possible,” he said. “We have two guaranteed games left and then you talk about the playoffs and all you can do is move on to the next day, get better then and try to be better the next time we go on field.”
The Chiefs don't need to do much to improve in next week's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. They finished the first quarter against the Raiders with minus-18 yards, the worst for an NFL team since 2011.
Both Raiders touchdowns came on defense, one on a fumble after a botched handoff between Mahomes and Isiah Pacheco and the other on an interception thrown by Mahomes.
“You see glimpses of it,” Mahomes said when asked what gave him reason to believe the Chiefs could resolve their offensive issues that have plagued them for most of the season. “You see us move the ball, you see us score in the red zone. It's just that we haven't always done it enough game after game this late in the season. We kind of had a good game ., one bad game, one good game, one bad game, but we have to be more consistent because when you get to the playoffs, you have to keep it up.”
The Chiefs led the NFL in dropped passes and offensive penalties entering Week 16 and were among the league leaders in turnovers.
“If we clean things up, we can score points,” he said. “It's just [that] we have to clean it. We have two games left. You have to do this and if we don't we will go home.
“If we clean things up, we can beat anyone. I truly believe that, but we have to prove we can do it.”
Pacheco left Monday's game with a concussion in the second half and did not return.
Pacheco returned to the game against the Raiders after missing the previous two games with a shoulder injury. He scored a touchdown on a 12-yard run, but otherwise had little impact on his return, rushing 11 times for 26 yards and catching four passes for zero yards.
The Chiefs, before the loss, placed one of their top running backs, Jerick McKinnon, on the injured reserve list with a groin injury. They finished the Raiders game with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and La'Mikal Perine at running back. Perine was cut from the Raiders' practice squad before the game to take McKinnon's place.
