Patrick Mahomes has started 153 NFL games in the regular season and the playoffs. In exactly none of them, until Sunday night, had the Kansas City Chiefs failed to reach the opposing red zone.
They did not get there once in Seattle. The Chiefs managed 213 total yards and 11 first downs, each the fewest ever posted in a Mahomes start, and lost 20-3 to drop to 5-1 and lose their status as the AFC’s last unbeaten team.
Mahomes finished 19 of 33 for 165 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. His 5.0 yards per attempt was the fifth-lowest mark of his career.
Three points matched a 2021 low
Harrison Butker’s 50-yard field goal was the only Kansas City score. The three points tied the fewest the Chiefs have ever produced with Mahomes starting; the only comparable game was a 2021 defeat at Tennessee.
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Seattle’s defence came in leading the NFL in total yards allowed, pass defence, yards per play and takeaways, and left having now gone 36 consecutive games without allowing a 100-yard rusher. Jaxon Smith-Njigba did most of the damage at the other end, with nine catches for 150 yards and the game’s only receiving touchdown.
Kenneth Walker III held to 36 yards against his old team
Kenneth Walker III, the reigning Super Bowl LX MVP, had signed with Kansas City in March after four seasons in Seattle and arrived leading the NFL in rushing with 665 yards through five games.
His former defence held him to 36 yards on 14 carries, his longest run going for seven. Across the board, this was the Chiefs’ offence at its worst in the Mahomes era.
Mahomes calls primetime defeat painful
“This sucks,” Mahomes told reporters. “You don’t want to perform like this in primetime. You’ve got to feel it on the plane ride home.”
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Mahomes added that it was on him and the other senior players to show younger teammates how to respond.
Reid: ‘I take full responsibility’
“All three phases we struggled, so we’ve got to do better, and that’s my responsibility,” head coach Andy Reid said. “I take full responsibility for this.”
The Minnesota Vikings, at 6-0, are now the only unbeaten team in the NFL. Kansas City travels to Denver next Sunday, 1 November, to face the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
