(610 Sports) – Despite putting up 529 of total offense on Sunday, Patrick Mahomes thinks the Chiefs still have room for improvement.
Against the 49ers' top-5 defense, Kansas City's offense was able to average 9.1 yards per play, pick up 5.3 yards per run, and go 6-for-9 on third downs, while scoring six offensive touchdowns en route to a 44-23 victory.
The Chiefs' offense was able to put up these numbers despite a first quarter Mahomes' interception and an early 10 point deficit.
After the game, Mahomes said that he believes his team can continue to play even better moving forward, despite having just put together one of the most complete performances of any team this season.
"Yeah, I mean, it's getting better and better," Mahomes said. "I think we can continue to get better. I think we're going to continue to get better and better as the season goes on. We'll learn from our mistakes and we'll go out there and improve and be even better when the season gets to the end of it. To go out against a defense like this and show that we can still be explosive and have those big plays, I think that will bode well for us as the season goes on because people don't know where it's going to come from."
Free agent acquisitions JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling both went over the 100-yard mark as pass-catchers, with Smith-Schuster recording seven receptions for 124 yards and Valdes-Scantling hauling in three passes for 111 yards.
It was a total team effort from the Chiefs, something the team has been looking for since revamping their offense following the offseason trade of wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The post-Tyreek Hill era was always going to force Mahomes to spread the ball around to multiple targets over the course of a game and on Sunday, he completed passes to eight different receivers. After the game, Mahomes reiterated that he's got plenty of talent around him and everyone will get their chance to shine.
"We have guys everywhere in this offense," Mahomes said. "The receivers obviously had a big day today, the tight ends have had big days, the running backs have had big days. That's just going to be who we are as an offense, it's going to be everybody. It all starts up front and if the offensive line plays like they did today, we'll have a good day on offense because we have a lot of playmakers on this team."
One of the biggest takeaways from yesterday's win, is that they didn't panic after getting into an early deficit on the road against a top-tier defense. If the offensive explosion folowing Mahomes's early interception showed one thing, it's that these comebacks can be expected.
"It's having done it, and then there's so much time left in the game," Mahomes said. "I'm going to compete to the final whistle, until coach takes me off that football field. Whenever you get down in these games, all you can do is think about how can you affect and go out there and have a positive next play? And then you kind of continue to do that on the next play and the next play. And EB preaches that — the most important play is the next play."
