Why Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs won't win the Super Bowl

New Super Bowl favorites: The Detroit Lions are doing great.Image: trapezoid

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The Kansas City Chiefs suffered their first loss in Game 10 — a belated loss. Because the defending champions have some weaknesses around Patrick Mahomes. What are these and what else happened in NFL Week 11?

Niklas Helbling
Niklas Helbling

Now Mahomes' chief is down too

The Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated in 15 straight games this season. Now the series has been broken. In the tenth game of the season, the team surrounding superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes lost to the Buffalo Bills 20-31. This is a failure that has been evident over the past few games. This also exposed the master's weakness.

The offense led by Mahomes was once again not as strong as expected. Of the nine drives, four ended in punts and only three scores were scored — after all, they were all touchdowns. Mahomes also had two interceptions, bringing his season total to 11 interceptions and 15 touchdowns.

Things haven't gone well for the 29-year-old quarterback, also due to poor quality at the receiver position. With Rashe Rice injured after a collision with Mahomes early in the season, inconsistent rookie Xavier Worthy is now his primary receiver. DeAndre Hopkins, acquired via trade, is past his prime, as is Mahomes' favorite pass rusher, Travis Kelce. The 35-year-old tight end was showing signs of aging last year before another strong performance in the playoffs, but Taylor Swift's beau is even more frail this season. And the running game — which hasn't traditionally been particularly good for the Chiefs — offers little relief.

Even with mastermind Andy Reid on the sidelines, Kansas City's offense was average. And facing good opponents, the defense is not completely stable. While she was outstanding last season, she's particularly vulnerable in passing now. Opposing quarterbacks rarely get pressured despite the presence of star back Chris Jones, and the cornerbacks and safeties tasked with guarding pass catchers and long balls aren't as strong as they were last year.

September 3, 2024: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (left) talks with coach Andy Reid before the start of Super Bowl LXXVIII in Las Vegas. - ZUMAm67_ 20240903_zaf_m67_021 Copyright: xTam...

Great things have happened in the past when quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid came together – but that's not the case this season.Picture: www.imago-images.de

The Buffalo Bills know how to take advantage of this, too, as they can barely get any space through the running game. Quarterback Josh Allen only threw one touchdown pass, but he made multiple successful passes that brought the team close, and then running back James Cook scored twice. Allen's own touchdown in the final period made the decision — if the Chiefs defense could hold on here, victory was still possible.

Of course, the Chiefs didn't look particularly convincing for long periods of time last season, then suddenly kicked things up a few notches in the playoffs. But the current team has too many weaknesses that even a century talent like Patrick Mahomes can't easily cover up. The last two games against Tampa Bay (Nevada 30:24) and Denver (16:14 due to a blocked field goal) could only come with blowouts. Good teams like Buffalo will exploit these weaknesses in critical moments. So here's the prediction: The Kansas City Chiefs won't win their third consecutive Super Bowl this season.

The Buffalo Bills have won nine of 11 games and their hopes of a first Super Bowl victory are higher than they have been in a long time.

Here's what happened last week:

touchdown after touchdown in detroit

Jared Goff has some catching up to do. The Detroit Lions quarterback threw five interceptions last week in Houston and was helped by his teammates in a game-winning 26:23, and the 30-year-old showed against the Jacksonville Jaguars Excellent performance. He found teammates on 24 of his 29 passes, resulting in 412 yards and four touchdowns.

Wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown (161 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Jameson Williams (124/1), as well as running backs David Montgomery (95/2) and Jameer Gibbs (123/1), in particular, benefited from this. In the end, with a strong defense, the result was a 52:6 victory, which meant that Detroit scored more than 50 points for the second time this season and more than 40 points for the fourth time this season. The Lions are the only leader in the NFL in scoring at 33.6 points per game and are now the favorite to win the Super Bowl, according to bookmakers.

The ninth loss in Game 11 was a new low for the Jacksonville Jaguars, who were benching quarterback Mac Jones. This apparent slap in the face may now cost head coach Doug Pederson his job.

Mythical Mount Tatham

Taysom Hill came to the NFL as a quarterback and was retrained as a tight end by the New Orleans Saints a few years later. He's also not a typical tight end, but has been used as a running back at times. While Hill is hardly noticeable most of the time, the 34-year-old can break out from time to time. The “Human Swiss Army Knife” also played such a game in a 35-14 victory over Cleveland.

He scored three touchdowns and totaled 188 yards. He also completed one pass for 18 yards but also threw an interception. Hill is the first player in NFL history to run for at least 100 yards, receive 50 yards and pass for 10 yards in a game.

49ers continue to struggle

The San Francisco 49ers offense, which was outstanding last season, continues to languish. Quarterback Brock Purdy and company were a little too little in every aspect against the Seattle Seahawks. As the defense ultimately failed to withstand it, Seahawks playmaker Geno Smith scored the decisive touchdown 12 seconds before the end, setting the final score at 20:17. This means both teams currently have a record of five wins and five losses each.

The Los Angeles Rams have the same record in the NFC West. The Rams defeated New England 28-22 thanks to a stellar performance from quarterback Matt Stafford, who threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receivers Puka Nacua (123 yards, 1 TD) and Cooper Kupp (106/2) showed that the Rams still have the best pass catching in the league One of the best combinations of players, and they will definitely be the focus of attention in the playoffs.

Richardson seizes opportunity

After the Indianapolis Colts' recent 20:23 loss to Houston, 22-year-old quarterback Anthony Richardson performed poorly and once came off the field due to “fatigue.” He was replaced by the experienced Joe Flacco. However, the 39-year-old did not improve and had to return to the bench after playing only two games. When Richardson returned, he had one of the best games of his second year.

Against the New York Jets, he threw 30 passes to teammates with a 60% success rate and no interceptions. He once conceded a fumble but later made amends for the mistake. After the New York Jets turned a 13-0 deficit into a 24-16 lead, Richardson threw a touchdown pass to Josh Downs to tie the game and add a third in the final minute. A second touchdown completed the game.

The Colts won 28-27, putting another nail in the coffin of the Jets' playoff hopes with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who made some mistakes but didn't perform well. Performance.

What's wrong with these Steelers?

Once again, this is a classic matchup between two rivals, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The Steelers and Ravens have had a competitive matchup on equal terms since both teams were without coaches Mike Tomlin in 2007 and John Harbaugh a year later. , which is what often happens. The focus is once again on defense and special teams.

The Steelers scored on a field goal with 18:16 remaining, and Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, who had been outstanding in previous seasons, missed two field goals that ultimately cost the team the win. . The Ravens still had a chance to tie the game in the end, but the two-point conversion failed. Pittsburgh (8-2) defeated Baltimore (7-4) to defend its lead in the AFC North.

Things are looking increasingly bleak for the Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) in the division after a 34-27 loss in an exciting game to the playoff-bound Los Angeles Chargers.

Falcon has no choice but to marvel

Of the three rookie quarterbacks who have become regulars in their first year, Jayden Daniels has been Washington's most convincing so far. But Denver's Bo Nix is ​​getting better, too. He was outstanding in leading the Denver Broncos to a 38-6 win, throwing four touchdown passes to four different players and completing nearly 85 percent of his passes. The Atlanta Falcons, on the other hand, haven't been successful at all, but they still lead the NFC South, while Denver currently sits just outside of a playoff spot at six wins and five losses.

Caleb Williams has bad luck

The No. 1 pick in April's draft has had issues so far. After last week's embarrassing 3:19 loss to New England, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was fired and replaced by Thomas Brown. It clearly had an effect, as Williams had a solid game that, although he didn't score a touchdown, at least put his team in a position to win the game. But a last-second shot was blocked by the Green Bay Packers, meaning they won 20:19.

Despite seven wins and three losses, Green Bay ranks third in the NFC North behind Detroit (9:1) and the Minnesota Vikings (8:2), who easily defeated Tennessee 23:13. State team. The Chicago Bears, on the other hand, have managed just four wins in ten games.

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