The Chiefs said their own mistakes played a large part in losing to the Eagles, a defeat that dropped them to 0-2 for the first time under Patrick Mahomes.
— After starting the season 0-2 for the first time under Patrick Mahomes, a quiet Kansas City Chiefs team discussed the mistakes they made en route to a 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sunday’s much-anticipated Super Bowl rematch
The defensive linemen went over certain plays in the locker room, including the Philadelphia Eagles‘ signature Tush Push. Linebackers Nick Bolton and Leo Chenal each said they were pissed while wide receiver Hollywood Brown tried to explain why the Chiefs offense has had back-to-back disjointed performances.
„It’s just a lack of execution“, Brown said. „It takes all 11 every single play. We’ve got to get on the same page and do that every single play.“
Brown’s assessment is accurate. Mahomes had another strong performance, but the unit made plenty of unforced errors. The Chiefs struggled in short-yardage plays, some of Mahomes‘ passes were batted down and the play calls from coach Andy Reid didn’t help his quarterback when the Eagles blitzed 11 times.
And yet, the Chiefs were just six yards away from taking a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Mahomes was in the midst of leading the Chiefs on a methodical drive to put pressure on the NFL’s reigning champion. But the drive’s 14th play ended in disaster as a quick pass from Mahomes bounced off tight end Travis Kelce ’s hands and into the arms of rookie safety Andrew Mukuba, who returned the interception 41 yards.
„We got the defense that we wanted“, Mahomes said of the interception. „I threw it just a tad too early, just trying to put it on [Kelce’s] body low before that [defender] got there. If I can put it more on his body and not so far out in front, then he can catch it and take the hit and get in the end zone.
