SÃO PAULO — Ten penalties, two drops. It certainly wasn’t a clean game for the Kansas City Chiefs as they lost 27-21 to the Los Angeles Chargers to open their regular season in Brazil. But mistakes are part of the game. In order to have enough margin for error moving forward, the offense needs to be more explosive.
Without Rashee Rice, suspended, and Xavier Worthy, who left the game early with a shoulder injury, the offense didn’t have enough fire power to match the Chargers on Friday night. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit some deep shots to Tyquan Thornton, who generated a lot of separation throughout the game, but it was never consistent enough.
“I’m never satisfied, especially after a loss,” Mahomes said after the game. “We hit some, but we missed some as well. If I can be better at hitting those deep shots, it opens up the rest of the offense. We hit a couple, which was good, but it wasn’t enough to win the game.”
Execution to open the defense
Patrick Mahomes praised the Chargers’ defensive plan, but he knows things could have been different had the offense been more explosive early on.
“They had a good gameplan. You play a team a lot, they kind of know what you’re good at,” Mahomes explained. “I thought they did a good job of taking away some of our quick throws and some of our throws down the field. I thought we adjusted well in the second half, but if I can hit some of those throws early, it loosens up the defense. So I’ve got to be better early in the football game, just like everybody else.”
Protection to make it happen
In order to have explosive plays, the offensive line has to hold up. In the first game without Joe Thuney, who was traded to the Chicago Bears in the offseason, Mahomes had to frequently move around to extend plays before throwing deep. But Mahomes still praised the effort his linemen showed.
“I thought they did a pretty good job. Some of the stunts on the defensive line got them a couple of times, but overall they battled well,” Mahomes added. “That’s all you can ask for, the battle. Joe [Thuney] is a Hall of Famer, he’s going to have a gold jacket. These young guys are talented and have a chance to be really, really good. I thought they held up well against a strong defensive line, but we’ll keep pushing them to get even better as the season goes on.”
The Chiefs have a challenging schedule ahead to recover from this loss. Next week, it’s the home opener against the defending champions Philadelphia Eagles. Kansas City still plays the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions over the first six weeks of the season. It’s time to be more explosive, or the execution will have to be perfect to avoid a disaster in the first third of the year
