The days that used to place the Chiefs' best attributes in the spotlight are now reserved for highlighting some of their struggles instead.
In a weekly news conference Wednesday, even after back-to-back victories, quarterback Patrick Mahomes spent more time talking about what's gone wrong with the offense than what's gone right.
His message is consistent — following his coach's lead, he attempts to absorb the blame, whether through his struggles against the zone defenses he's seeing, lost connections with receivers or the deep shots.
It's that last aspect that's perhaps most jarring for anyone who has watched Mahomes over the past three-plus years — the deep shots.
Mahomes is 0 for 9 on passes that travel more than 20 yards over the past two weeks, per Next Gen Stats. Much of that is the oft-mentioned deep safeties he sees each time he drops back in the pocket.
Won't stop him, though.
Even as hitters sit on his fastball, Mahomes is going to keep greeting them with velocity. And his coach, Andy Reid, plans to keep calling for that pitch.
"I mean, I'm gonna take shots," Mahomes said. "The last few years I've take those shots, and they've worked. I've taken those shots, and they haven't worked (as well this season), and we've still been able to find ways to score points.
"Whenever I've got a guy with a chance to make a play downfield, I'm going to give him a chance to make a play."
The most noticeable example in Sunday's 13-7 win against the Packers was Mahomes' decision to throw to Mecole Hardman on a deep route rather than hitting tight end Travis Kelce underneath. Kelce sat wide open on the play: Mahomes acknowledged he saw him but opted to give Hardman a chance. He explained that decision right after the game, and a day later, Reid supported it.
The problem, Reid said Wednesday, was not that play but rather the snaps that followed. The Chiefs dropped a pass on second down, and receiver Tyreek Hill slipped on his route on third down. Had they executed either of those plays, fewer are probably analyzing Mahomes' choice to look past Kelce.
"When given an opportunity, if it's a situation where it's equal or depending on the matchup, you take the shot," Reid said. "You're never going to get a shot unless you take a shot. That's how we do it.
"If you don't get it, then you go get it the next down. We're one of the better second-down teams in football. Go get it then. That's how we go."
To be clear, this is not a season-long problem, at least when considering those opposing defensive schemes. Even with teams daring the Chiefs to throw the ball deep because that's where they're shading their coverage, the Chiefs have managed some success doing it — albeit not to the extend to which they're accustomed. And the past two weeks haven't exactly helped their track record.
But in their win at Washington, for example, Mahomes completed 5 of 6 passes of 20-plus yards. They totaled 148 yards and a touchdown. Same deep shell coverage that day.
So it's still there on occasion. But with fewer chances, the misses are underscored.
He'll just keep firing.
"I think, just in general, even when we're not connecting on them, it still tells that defense they have to back up, and it opens up stuff underneath," Mahomes said. "Taking those shots during the game, even if they're not connecting, it kind of puts a little bit of a fear into the defense to know they can't start coming up; they can't start jumping some of our routes.
"So obviously it's going to be nice when we complete one of these. We haven't completed one in a couple weeks here. But either way, taking those shots and having those opportunities at the right time and the right place will continue to open up the offense more and more."
