Suffering back-to-back losses after a 5-0 start has left the Kansas City Chiefs more stirred than stunned.
“I’m excited for us to go out there and prove who we think we really are and be better this week,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said.
The next chance for Kansas City to get back in the win column comes at home on Sunday against the sliding New York Jets (2-6), who may be without one of their leading playmakers. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson is in concussion protocol.
The Chiefs (5-2) have navigated injuries of their own in the wide receiver room, most notably Tyquan Thornton (ankle), who is on injured reserve.
While Mahomes passed for 321 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 28-24 road loss to the AFC West rival Denver Broncos, running back Emmett Johnson had the highest receiving yardage output with 128.
Rashee Rice came back from a three-game absence caused by a hamstring injury. He had seven catches for 53 yards and a score, tops among the team’s wide receivers, but Cyrus Allen was the only other wideout with 20 receiving yards.
“Obviously we’ve missed Tyquan,” Mahomes said. “I think these other guys have stepped up and presented themselves. It’s just about us going out there and doing it.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said the team is sticking with kicker Harrison Butker, whose accuracy woes were again on display in Denver. Butker missed a 54-yard field goal attempt wide right before the two-minute warning in a fourth quarter that saw the Broncos outscore the Chiefs 15-0.
The club signed former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to the practice squad on Oct. 28.
George Karlaftis had the lone sack Sunday for Kansas City, which had zero in a 20-3 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.
The Chiefs are 3-0 at home this season and understand there’s plenty of runway remaining for them to reclaim the AFC West lead from Denver. But Mahomes doesn’t want to let go of the accelerator.
“Leads in the NFL evaporate fast,” he said. “We have to finish games.”
The Jets are focused on the same final steps these days.
New York enters on its second three-game losing streak of the season and has lost three in a row on the road overall since a Week 1 victory at Tennessee.
Only one Jets defeat has come by multiple scores. In their 38-33 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8, they squandered a 23-14 halftime lead while generating just one sack, from Will McDonald IV.
Wilson took an apparent helmet-to-helmet hit in the closing seconds. Jets coach Aaron Glenn said Wilson is questionable for Sunday as he works through protocol.
The Jets have snagged just one interception in 25 games under Glenn, the fewest in the NFL over such a stretch since 1932.
“Every week, we always evaluate the roster,” Glenn said, “and make the best decisions as far as that’s concerned. We always look at it from a coaching perspective on who gives us the best chance to win. We make those decisions as we go on in the week.”
A positive development might make one choice easier. Although he didn’t expand much beyond offering that “Both guys will play,” Glenn said that running back Breece Hall, who has missed the past five games with a quad injury, could share the backfield workload with Braelon Allen in Kansas City.
Allen has 504 yards on the ground and two touchdowns in Hall’s absence, gaining at least 100 yards from scrimmage in four straight games.
As with Hall, edge rushers David Bailey (groin) and Joseph Ossai (ankle) were listed as limited practice participants on Wednesday alongside tight end Mason Taylor (back).