Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Upbeat Despite Loss: ‘If We Clean It Up, We Can Beat Anybody’
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Despite an ugly loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Day, Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has not lost faith in his team.
Per ESPN’s Adam Teicher, Mahomes said after the 20-14 loss that he still believes the defending Super Bowl champions can make it back to the promised land.
“If we clean it up, we’ll be able to score points,” Mahomes said. “It’s just (that) we’ve got to clean it up. We’re two games left. You have to do it and if we don’t, we’ll be going home. If we clean it up, we can beat anybody. I truly believe that, but we got to prove that we can do it.”
The Chiefs had the opportunity to clinch their eighth straight AFC West title, but they put forth one of their worst offensive performances of the season. Kansas City finished the first quarter with minus-18 yards, the lowest of any team since 2011.
Las Vegas scored both its touchdowns on defense, with one coming on a fumble return following a botched handoff between Mahomes and Isiah Pacheco and the other coming on an interception thrown by Mahomes in the second quarter.
“You see glimpses of it,” Mahomes said when asked what fuels his belief that the Chiefs could fix their offensive woes. “You see glimpses of us moving the football, you see glimpses of us scoring in the red zone. It’s just we haven’t consistently done it enough game in and game out at this end of the season. We kind of had one 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 string some together.”
Time is running out for the Chiefs to figure things out, as there are just two weeks left in the regular season. Kansas City will be looking to bounce back when it faces the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
“I still believe that we can go do what we want to do,” Mahomes said. “It’s just how can we correct it as quickly as possible. We’re two games left that are guaranteed and then you talk about the playoffs and so all you can do is move on to that next day, get better then and try to be better the next time we step on the field.”