Blame me, says Patrick Mahomes as the Kansas City Chiefs lose again to leave playoff hopes hanging by a thread

Patrick Mahomes cut a frustrated figure and blamed himself after the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff hopes took another hit after defeat at the Denver Broncos.

Mahomes threw for 276 yards and one touchdown as the Broncos edged it 22-19 with the Chiefs now sitting third in the AFC West with a 5-5 record. Will Lutz was the Broncos’ hero with a last-gasp, 35-yard field goal.

The Chiefs face a real fight to reach the post-season and Mahomes says any criticism of the team’s performance this season should be directed his way.

“I think we’re really talented and we’ve got a lot of great players, but it’s about being more consistent. I think it starts with me,” Mahomes said. “There’s times where I’m firing and we’re moving the ball down the field at ease. But there’s times where we go in spurts where I miss a throw or a [pass] protection call.

“We haven’t been consistent enough to win games. It starts with me.”

Sloppy Mahomes punished by Broncos

Mahomes was frustrated with two plays in particular, the first on the opening drive when he failed to find wide receiver Xavier Worthy with a makeable throw and the second when he was intercepted trying to pick out Elijah Mitchell when the sensible move would have been to throw the ball out of bounds.

On the early miss, he said: “I’ve just got to make the throw. There’s no other way around it. The play was designed for [tight end] Travis [Kelce] – and I think Travis is wide open – but you have these alerts in your plays and how [safety Brandon Jones] was sitting with Xavier’s speed, I knew he was going to have a chance down the field. I’ve just got to give him a chance. I miss that one.”

On his decision to try to pick out Mitchell and being picked off by Ja’Quan McMillian, he added: “You can’t do it. I just didn’t throw it high enough. [McMillian] jumped up and made a good play. I’ve made that throw before, but with the type of game we’re in, don’t put the ball in harm’s way. Take the three points and move on to the next possession.”

The Chiefs face the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts next week and Mahomes knows there is now little margin for error.

“It’s going to be tough to get back in the division race,” he said. “The goal is to get into the playoffs and try to make a run at it. We’ve got to learn from this one as much as possible, knowing we’re going to get a great opponent coming into Arrowhead next week.”

Kelce not interested in record, declines to speak to reporters

If there was one bright spot on the night for the Chiefs it was Mahomes’ sole touchdown pass enabled Kelce to set a new record for the number of TDs in franchise history with 84, breaking a tie with Priest Holmes.

“He deserves it, the work he puts in every day,” Mahomes said of Kelce’s achievement. “He’s a leader, man. It just speaks to the person that he is that he’s able to go out there and break that record. That was a great play in a big moment in the game. That’s when he usually makes his big plays.”

Kelce was less enthusiastic.

After declining to answer questions from reporters, the 36-year-old left the locker room by saying: “If you were going to ask me about the [franchise] record, I could not care less about that right now.”

Kelce was the Chiefs’ main offensive threat, ending with nine receptions for 91 yards.