To say the Chiefs are stuttering would be an understatement.
After starting the season 6-1, the reigning Super Bowl champions have lost back-to-back games and four of their last six. This sudden downturn in form appears to have started with a shocking 24-9 road loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 8. Up until that point, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had never lost to his AFC West rivals, having rattled off 12 straight wins.
However, the Broncos were finally able to get a W over Mahomes and the Chiefs, limiting the QB to 240 yards, 0 TDs, two interceptions and a paltry 59.1 passer rating – his lowest of the season so far. It is also the only game this season the reigning NFL MVP has failed to register a score. It was a complete shutout by the Broncos, and this week, The Denver Post published an article with a title that read, “Broncos DC Vance Joseph didn’t just beat Patrick Mahomes. He didn’t just beat the Chiefs. He broke them.”
According to reports, Mahomes liked the post on X, formerly Twitter, but has since deleted it. Unfortunately, he didn’t un-like the post before people managed to screenshot it. After noticing Mahomes had liked the post, fans were all saying the same thing – that the article had ‘poked the bear’ and that Mahomes was taking a mental note to motivate him ahead of the playoffs.
“They poked the bear,” one fan commented.
“Patrick liked this. Yeah them boys getting absolutely smoked,” joked another.
“Oh yeah here we go. Grim Reaper incoming,” commented a third.
“Yeah he liked this it’s over for the league,” a fourth replied.
The divisional rivals have already met twice this season – the first was a Chiefs win in Week 6, although they were held to just 19 points, and the second was that Week 8 Broncos victory. However, the notion that the Broncos ‘broke’ the Chiefs is a little far-fetched. The red flags that the Chiefs were off the pace this season were there from the get-go when they were beaten by the Lions in Week 1.
The Chiefs have an outstanding defence, and Mahomes and Travis Kelce, but outside that there’s a dearth of talent, particularly with the receiver group. Their wideouts have made a number of costly errors this season, most notably Kadarius Toney who was miles offside at the end of the recent Bills game which meant his go-ahead TD was scrubbed off.
It’s not a complete disaster though. Sure, the Chiefs have had some sloppy losses, but they’re still 8-5 on the season and in first place in AFC West. Having said that, the 7-6 Broncos are breathing down their neck heading into Week 15. If the Chiefs were to lose against the Patriots this weekend, and the Broncos were to beat the Lions, the cat really would be thrown amongst the pigeons in the division. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learnt during the Patrick Mahomes era it’s that you can never count the Chiefs out when the chips are down.
Look who liked this tweet. I love when stuff like this gets written. Not to mention Mahomes has OWNED Denver till one game this year. pic.twitter.com/7hBJbNUw44
— Alex Gold (@AlexGold) December 12, 2023
