Rare miscommunication between Mahomes and Kelce illuminates KC Chiefs’ broader issue

The apparent telepathy between Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce often makes for a spectacle to behold.

By now, the fluid dynamics are perhaps as instinctive between them, and as much to be counted on, as the mind-meld between Mahomes and coach Andy Reid that has made the Chiefs mesmerizing these last few years.

You could point to dozens and dozens of examples, really, but none more revealing than that bit between them after another uncanny connection in their playoff game against Houston two years ago.

That’s when a mic’d up Kelce on the sideline told Mahomes, “I don’t understand how you know what I’m doing.” When Mahomes told him, “I knew you were going to turn,” Kelce laughed and said, “There is nothing telling you I was going to do that, and the ball was in the air before I did it.”

And that’s the prologue to a rare moment gone awry between them in the late-game crucible on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs suffered a deflating 30-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that left them in last place in the AFC West at 1-2.

(More significantly, the loss was underscored by Reid being taken to a hospital afterward for what was described as precautionary reasons when he felt ill. Thankfully, Reid was released from the hospital on Monday and expected to return to work later that day or Tuesday.)

The loss seemingly leaves the Chiefs on the verge of an inflection point in the trajectory of their season, reeling now with back-to-back losses for the first time in two years.

And it was yet another game they might well have won without an uncharacteristic spree of self-inflicted mistakes on offense — particularly in the crucial time down the stretch that the Chiefs had come to patent as their specialty with Mahomes.

Between that trend of offensive blunders (four turnovers Sunday) and a sprawling variety of issues on defense, which fared better against the run but continues to flail in the red zone and have jarring communications lapses, it’s certainly reasonable to wonder just how the Chiefs will respond at this early-season crossroads.

Not to mention how much seeing the Chiefs suddenly beatable after back-to-back Super Bowl appearances plays into more of the same, whether in terms of opponent strategy or psychology or the team’s own state of mind.

Because the veneer of invincibility is vanishing around the Chiefs … even if it’s the battle within that will matter most.

“We’ll find ourselves,” Mahomes said. “We’ll find ourselves over time.”

That still seems more likely than not, legitimate as any concerns are at this point.

It’s just that the moment he needed to find Kelce most on Sunday, on third and 8 at the Chiefs’ 27-yard-line with the score tied 24-24 and 1 minute, 55 seconds left, they misread each other … and Mahomes found only Chargers defender Alohi Gilman.

As Mahomes roamed to make time to throw, he thought Kelce would realize he wanted him to roll farther downfield and toward the sideline since he “usually is pretty good at jumping up and catching those.”

Trouble was …

“Right when I threw it, he kind of cut back,” said Mahomes, who figured Kelce would be cued by his reset … just as Kelce maneuvered the other way. “And it was one of those things where I probably shouldn’t have thrown it, especially in that situation.

“But there’s been many times where we’ve made that work and made a big play on it.”

Not what you want, of course. But the baseline for that sort of improv absolutely is what you want, much as it can always use more refining.

“I mean, that happens,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, you want to take care of the football in that situation. But we’ve made a lot of big plays happen in my career on that. So I’ll never lose that kind of part of me.”

And of course he shouldn’t. It’s an essential part of what makes him special and why the Chiefs remain absolutely formidable despite this wince-inducing start.

But the flip side of that is the Chiefs can’t take something for granted any more that maybe they’d become a bit too accustomed to, even if subconsciously: the idea that they can pull out any game in the end because … Patrick.

We know he’s still part innovator, part magician, part unicorn and all-phenomenon. But losing twice in a row with the same sort of signature ending has to be seen as a re-defining point of urgency.

They’ll rally to win games again, to be sure, but the idea that the Chiefs can saunter along all game and just turn it on at the end to win isn’t a viable blueprint.

Because the rest of the game often will define it, and the turnovers rendered the Chiefs offense deficient all along despite generating a whopping 33 first downs and 437 yards.

And on a day Mahomes hit Kelce seven times for 104 yards, the fateful late play is a microcosm of a bigger point: Much of their sluggish start, at least on offense, has been under their control and in areas in which they normally thrive ... and at least theoretically should be expected to again.

For instance, turnovers are atypical for the Chiefs, which is part of why Mahomes rated his level of concern as, “I mean, not a lot” given all the yards they produced.

Still, cleaning that up isn’t an automatic, either.

After all, it was a point of emphasis this week after the Chiefs ended the loss to Baltimore with a Mahomes interception and a Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s fumble on two of the final three possessions. When you don’t make good on what you emphasize, it suggests something lacking in the process or execution or both.

So, what now?

Well, issues of the last two weeks to the contrary, the Chiefs’ broader recent history lends credence to the idea us that they’ll fix that with the right focus and attention to detail.

That history also shows us that Mahomes is a sensation, even if he could have played better Sunday. While his other interception went off the hands of Marcus Kemp and quite arguably should have been caught, for instance, it’s also true that the ball was a no-look pass rifled behind Kemp.

So Mahomes is mortal, we’re reminded again, but we also know him to be resilient and resourceful. And if the Chiefs’ defense can solve just some of its issues, Mahomes remains an irresistible force that few can contain.

That hasn’t changed, even if the AFC West is much-improved and the recent mystique of the Chiefs is being challenged in such a way that their own margin for error isn’t what it was.

And the last few weeks have illustrated the perils of continuing to tempt fate by allowing games to come down to the final minutes, circumstances that for a long time seemed to forge the Chiefs stronger ... until they haven’t any more.

“It looks real dim right now,” Mahomes said. “But (if) you can find a way to get better and find a way to win these games within the games, we’ll be where we want to be by the end of the season.”