The Kansas City Chiefs had a disappointing start to the 2023 NFL season, losing to the Detroit Lions 21-20 to kick off the NFL season in front of a national audience. The absence of tight end Travis Kelce and defensive tackle Chris Jones was felt and left glaring holes on both sides of the ball that the Chiefs struggled to find an answer for. Luckily, both players should be back in Kansas City’s arsenal this Sunday.
“They’re good football players,” head coach Andy Reid said of Jones and Kelce on Wednesday. “So we welcome them back in, and we go. But on the other hand, I expect the other guys to step up, do the job, and finish a game when you have an opportunity, and that’s coaches and players.”
Nobody felt the loss of Kelce than quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Still, Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday that he hasn’t lost confidence in his wide-receiving core.
“I still think we have a great connection going,” Mahomes began. “Obviously, it doesn’t always work out in games. We didn’t execute at a high enough level — [myself] included in that first game — but you have to keep building. You have to try to make yourself better. I’ll try to do what I can to make it easier on them, and they’ll go out there and make the plays happen.”
Mahomes acknowledges that it is disappointing to begin the season 0-1, but now that Week 1 is officially in the books, the only thing that can be done now is to move forward to the next game.
“Obviously, you wanted to win that first game — but you didn’t,” he noted. “You kind of have to just wash that from your mind, get on to the next game, and try to make yourself better — so you can go out there and get a win.”
Luckily for the Chiefs, the other two teams that rounded out the AFC’s top three – the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills – also lost their season-opening matchups and are in the same boat as they are. However, Mahomes doesn’t care about that; he’s focused on preparing for the next game. This week, that’s Jacksonville.
“I don’t worry about other teams that are around the league,” he said. “You never know who’s gonna be the top at the end of the year. You just try to go out there and be the best team that you can be — and stack as many wins as possible.”
