The Chiefs walked out of Seattle with a 20-3 loss that looked bad in real time and somehow looks rougher after a closer look. The numbers tell the story bluntly: in Patrick Mahomes’ 153 NFL starts, including the playoffs, Kansas City tied for its fewest points, matched the 27-3 loss to Tennessee in 2021; it posted its fewest first downs with 11; and it finished with its second-lowest total offense at 213 yards.
Mahomes had a down day by his standards, too. He finished with a 58.3 passer rating, his fifth-worst, and threw for 165 yards, his sixth-least productive performance. That came in a game that was already complicated by the Chiefs being without their top-two offensive tackles and top-two receivers, while Seattle’s defense made clear it had a plan for Kenneth Walker III, the former Seahawk.
One of those missing pieces, tackle Josh Simmons, has not played all season and is now on injured reserve. Another, receiver Tyquan Thornton, is unlikely to return this season.
But the most revealing part of the week came Wednesday, when Mahomes once again showed a trait that separates him from almost everyone else: self-awareness. He did not hide behind the injuries, the dropped passes, the miscommunications with young receivers or the shaky line play. He started with himself.
“My feet weren’t in the right spots,” he said, adding that his footwork was “rushed, and I wasn’t giving chances in the pocket to kind of make those plays happen. And that kind of spiraled into the rest of the game.”
He went back to the tape and kept finding examples of his own role in what went wrong. He cited an early third-down overthrow to Kelce, then pointed to another play later in the game when he was locked in on attacking downfield, hurried his feet and never looked to Kelce on what could have been a third-down conversion.
“If you can’t hit those plays,” he said, “then usually it spirals in the wrong direction.”
That is the hard truth of games like this one. Football can unravel one snap at a time, and once the Chiefs fell behind multiple scores, the comeback path was gone. Against a good team, and especially one coming in as the reigning Super Bowl champion, every missed chance carries extra weight.
Mahomes framed it the way he often does: as part of the process of getting better.
“that’s how you evolve.”
He was talking about the broader NFL reality, too. Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated, and plenty of great teams have taken losses that later became the fuel for something bigger.
The 2019 Chiefs were 6-4 before ripping off nine straight wins on the way to their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. The 2021 Chiefs followed that 27-3 loss to Tennessee by winning 11 of 12 after a 3-4 start.
Those turns only make sense in hindsight, of course. Right now, the Chiefs are still sorting out what this version of the team is. They came into the season with a 5-0 start, then ran into a Seattle loss that exposed how fragile things can look when the offense loses rhythm and the roster is thin.
Even so, there are signs reinforcements are coming. The Chiefs could get tackle Jaylon Moore and receiver Rashee Rice back this week, which would help a line and receiving group that badly need it. That matters because the offense had just been leading the league in yards per game at 414 a week earlier and seemed to have found a new shape with Walker changing its complexion and range of options.
The week also reinforced how much still rests on Mahomes. He is coming off knee surgery and keeps attacking each game with the same edge, and his answers after Seattle showed both his competitive fire and his ability to turn frustration inward rather than outward. Asked what still gives him confidence that he’ll have enough time to work through his progressions, he said:
“After watching the film, I think I should have more confidence. Because I moved sometimes when I didn’t necessarily have to move and kind of moved myself into pressure. So I created some of those pressures.”
That’s the point. He is not just acknowledging mistakes; he is identifying them in detail and putting the responsibility on himself to fix them. That mindset has long been part of what makes him so effective and so steady for Kansas City, especially when the pressure builds.
Andy Reid once captured that side of Mahomes after the 13-seconds game against Buffalo in the 2022 AFC Divisional Round. Asked what he told his quarterback before he went back out after Buffalo took the late lead, Reid said:
“When it’s grim, be the Grim Reaper. And go get it.
He did that. He made everybody around him better, which he’s great at.”
After Seattle, the Chiefs need that version of Mahomes again. And as Wednesday made clear, he starts by looking in the mirror first.
In Other News...
Chiefs Trade Buzz Around Mahomes Just Got Very Real
The Chiefs loss at Seattle only sharpened the conversation around their passing game, and the timing is hardly subtle. Kansas City has been searching for more help at receiver, and the market is already starting to take shape around names that could matter if the front office decides to act before the season drifts any further.
ESPNs Jeremy Fowler reported that Brian Thomas Jr. is drawing interest from teams that include the Chiefs and Steelers, which gives Kansas City a high-end target to monitor if Jacksonville ever becomes willing to listen. There is also the familiar buzz around a possible Tyreek Hill reunion, though that idea comes with real uncertainty because of his recovery from a severe leg injury, leaving the Chiefs with more questions than answers for now. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs Put Real Pressure On Harrison Butker At The Worst Time
Harrison Butkers uneven season has finally pushed Kansas City to add some real competition, and the timing only raises the stakes. The Chiefs are expected to bring in veteran kicker Justin Tucker to the practice squad, a move that signals the organization is no longer willing to wait around for Butker to sort things out on his own.
Butker has already missed multiple field goals and extra points this year, and the latest frustration has made the situation hard to ignore. Tucker, one of the leagues most accomplished kickers from his years in Baltimore, gives Kansas City a proven alternative and puts Butker on a short runway to clean up his performance before this turns into a full-blown job battle. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Jones Is Becoming A Real Problem For The Chiefs Defense
The loss to the Seahawks did more than just dent the Chiefs record. It also put a spotlight on a defense that has not looked nearly as disruptive as expected, and Chris Jones has become the clearest example of that slide. Kansas City has leaned on him for years to tilt games from the interior, but his overall impact has dipped enough this season to become a real concern as the unit searches for answers.
Jones has been battling a calf injury, which may help explain some of the drop-off, but the bigger issue is that the Chiefs do not have an obvious fix if his production stays muted. His quiet showing against Seattle fit the broader trend, and with opposing offenses no longer forced to account for him on every snap, Kansas Citys pass rush loses some of the edge that once made it so hard to sustain drives against. [Read more 🡒]