It was frustrating day for the Chiefs at Lucas Oil Stadium, but it’s still very early to be pushing the panic button.
Patrick Mahomes had a subpar Week 3 outing against the Indianapolis Colts, and the Kansas City quarterback was spotted arguing with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as the Chiefs headed into the half with a 14-10 lead.
Kansas City had 34 seconds left in the first half, but it went conservative with its final plays, and it appeared the Chiefs were content with heading into the half with a four-point lead, with the exception of Mahomes.
Matt Ryan and the Colts rallied back to score the game-winning touchdown with 24 seconds left, granting them their first win of the season and the Chiefs’ first loss.
The argument at halftime stood out for many and had people wondering if there is trouble in Kansas City. The quarterback doesn’t seem to think so.
“I pretty much just said, ‘Let me have a chance at it,’ ” Mahomes told reporters in his postgame press conference, per team-provided video. “Then he (Bieniemy) was just like, ‘Let’s get back in our locker room and we’ll get something going for the next half.’ I don’t know if that’s an altercation, but that was the end of the conversation.”
On what he wanted to do in the final drive of the first half, Mahomes added: “I tried to go deep the first two times, and obviously, they were in a deep coverage. All I said was, ‘I’m not going to turn it over, I’ll get it out, try to get to the sideline and give us a chance to kick a field goal.’ “
Head coach Andy Reid gave a similar response when asked about the dust up between his quarterback and offensive coordinator.
“If you heard the words, that wasn’t — I don’t know how it looked to you guys, but that wasn’t a confrontation at all,” Reid told reporters. “That’s not what it was.”
On Mahomes’ desire to be aggressive in that moment, Reid added: “I thought it was just best not to do it. He’s a competitive kid, and he wants to take advantage of every opportunity. I thought it was best just to let that ride there.”
Hindsight is always 20-20, but the Chiefs certainly could have used more of a cushion to prevent a Colts comeback.
Kansas City will get its chance to bounce back against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.
