The Kansas City Chiefs were stunned by the Indianapolis Colts who beat them 20-17 on Sunday, but Patrick Mahomes was already fuming at half-time.
Although boasting an impressive 262 passing yards, Mahomes struggled to impact the game, and he looked upset with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. The pair were seen arguing as the Chiefs led 14-10 at half-time, with Mahomes seemingly making the point that his side should have been more direct during the last drive of the quarter.
Head coach Andy Reid stepped in to calm the situation down, but the damage may have already been done. The Chiefs only managed three points in the second half, and registered their first loss of the season.
"I pretty much just said, ‘Let me have a chance at it'," Mahomes told reporters in his post-game press conference. "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." But Mahomes continued to disagree with Bieniemy's tactics at the end of the half, as he 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'." In the end, it cost them, as Matt Ryan made the most of his opportunities and threw two touchdowns, while the Chiefs struggled to get going.
However, although he intervened, coach Reid dismissed claims that there was any confrontation. "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 said, via Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com. "That’s not what it was."
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But even Reid wasn't on board with the quarterback's ideas. "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."
The Chiefs scored 44 points in their season opener, and followed that up with a 27-point haul against the LA Chargers. But they lacked that killer instinct against the Colts.
Although Juju-Smith Schuster and Travis Kelce both picked up significant yardage, the Chiefs failed to break into the Colts endzone on more than one occasion. And the Chiefs are without star man Tyreek Hill who always seemed to bail Mahomes out.
Hill joined the Miami Dolphins this season, and has already helped inspire a dramatic change in form. They are now 3-0 after beating Super Bowl favourites Buffalo Bills, and many are tipping them for a surprise play-off run.
