Chiefs receiver goes to bat for Patrick Mahomes after QB's painful admission following win over Falcons
The Kansas City Chiefs might be undefeated through the first three games of the 2024 NFL season, but ask anyone on the team and they'll tell you they're not playing up to their standard of football quite yet. It all starts with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who was first to admit that he can do better after […]
The Kansas City Chiefs might be undefeated through the first three games of the 2024 NFL season, but ask anyone on the team and they'll tell you they're not playing up to their standard of football quite yet.
It all starts with Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, who was first to admit that he can do better after Sunday night's Week 3 win over the Atlanta Falcons. For Mahomes, he says it goes beyond the numbers that you've seen in the box score.
"I feel like I haven't played very well, and that's not a stats thing," Mahomes told reporters after the game. "I just feel like I'm missing opportunities, whenever they're out there, and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at. So it's about me getting back to my fundamentals, putting our guys in the right position, and then we got to execute at a higher level offensively. If teams are going to make us drop the field, we have to prove that we're able to do that. And I'm sure we'll get a lot of the same this next week with the Chargers."
These early-season struggles are unusual for Mahomes, who typically shows a level of sharpness and eagerness to his game in September. He attributes them to poor mechanics, where he has regressed at times throughout his NFL career.
"I think just footwork stuff, I got to get my base right," Mahomes continued. "I'm trying to think I'm trusting my arm too much in some of those throws, even the first throw the game, I just kind of flicking, kind of off balance, and don't hit Rashee (Rice) going down the scene there. So it's just I got to get back to my fundamentals, and then that stuff that I go through sometimes, not usually early in the season, like this. But luckily for me, I'm not playing my best football, and we're still getting wins, so I got to get better to make the offense better."
Chiefs WR Rashee Rice goes to bat for his quarterback
No player has benefited more from Mahomes' play this season than Rashee Rice, who is the Chiefs' leader through three weeks in the majority if not all of receiving categories. Asked about Mahomes' comments regarding his performance so far this season, the Chiefs' second-year receiver went to bat for his quarterback.
"I love that, just because, you know, he's the greatest quarterback I've ever played with," Rice said. "So you know, whenever he feels like he hasn't had a great game, I feel the same way. So, we just got to get back to practice we can do better together."
Rice had plenty of reasons to uplift Mahomes after the win over the Falcons. He finished Week 3 with a single-game career-high 12 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. It marked his fourth-career 100-yard performance in the regular season.
Even with the successful individual performance, Mahomes taking that type of accountability for his own poor play is pushing a young player like Rice to continue to get better. The second-year receiver is not content and wants to continue to improve, which is exactly the type of attitude that a championship team needs.
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