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Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes on Thursday took the blame for a lack of production from the Kansas City Chiefs‘ wide receivers and problems with the team’s passing game.
“If I start playing better, everybody will start playing better,” he said.
Mahomes threw two interceptions in Sunday night’s game against the New York Jets. The Chiefs, after taking an early 17-0 lead, had to hang on for a 23-20 victory.
“I missed some opportunities throughout the game, and so I’ve just got to put us in better positions and [start] making better decisions so that the guys can go out there and work for me and make plays down the field.”
Mahomes, last season’s NFL MVP, is 10th in yards (1,006), 21st in completion percentage (64.3%) and tied for second in interceptions (4) this season.
He said the interceptions against the Jets were the result of him being “greedy.”
“It’s something that I have to continue to get better and better throughout my career,” Mahomes said. “Sometimes when stuff’s maybe not going as well or if I want to get that deep shot going, I’ll try to force it, whereas there are just times where I’ve got to just throw the ball away or take the checkdown and it goes against my nature. But it’s something that you have to do at this quarterback position in order to have success.
“You want to attack down the field. It makes defenses have to account for that. You never want to be stuck throwing the checkdowns underneath every single time because that’s when you can really condense the offense. We take pride of being able to stretch it vertically and horizontally. That’ll be something that I’ll manage throughout my career.”
The Chiefs haven’t been getting consistent production from their wide receivers in particular. Chiefs wideouts are tied for 25th in catches (45), 18th in yards (588), tied for 19th in touchdowns (2) and 32nd in drop rate (8.1%).
Rookie Rashee Rice, with 13 catches, is the only Chiefs wide receiver with double-digit receptions. Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore, expected before the season to be among the team’s receiving leaders, have combined for 16 catches and 169 yards.
“We have a couple of young guys that we’re kind of bringing along,” coach Andy Reid said of the wide receivers. “But I think they’re doing a pretty good job.”
