KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The snap was just one of 55 by the Chiefs' offense, and only a true wonk would remember it. An incomplete pass. Nothing happened. Football is a fast game. Move on.
Except this one spoke to a bigger story. The New England Patriots had six defensive backs on the field and dropped seven into coverage. They doubled Tyreek Hill deep down the right side, and Mecole Hardman deep down the left. No big plays. No sir.
Patrick Mahomes paused a beat or two in the pocket, intent on squeezing every second possible, eyes downfield as ever. Except. Nothing. Happened. Mahomes didn't see anything. The pass went incomplete. Move on.
The Chiefs beat the Patriots, 26-10, at Arrowhead Stadium in a makeshift Monday night game. That's what matters. Wins are hard. But the Chiefs have made enough look easy that we know this isn't their best, or up to their Super Bowl standard.
Much of it came in those situations with Mahomes trying to find receivers open against six or seven defenders playing Cover 2 ... then man ... then dropping linemen ... then bringing pressure from different angles.
"When guys were open, it seemed like I wasn't finding them," Mahomes said. "I could see it on the tablet as I go to the sideline. We were calling plays that were getting guys open. I've just got to be able to be the guy to find them."
Nothing is normal in 2020, and that's especially true when we talk about a football game pushed back 25 { hours because of COVID-19 cases on both teams. The Patriots woke up Friday morning believing they had Cam Newton to unleash on a suspect Chiefs run defense. Instead, they ended up with Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham against a hungry Chiefs pass defense.
The Chiefs forced four turnovers and scored a touchdown on defense, continuing a promising start to the season on that side. There is enough positive that you can spend the rest of the week on it, if you want.
But these Chiefs demand to be judged on a Super Bowl standard. A week ago, they played so well that didn't feel high enough. Against the Patriots, well, there's a reason Andy Reid and the two offensive players made available after the game spoke like they lost.
"We've got to learn from this and we've got to do better in a lot of areas," Reid said.
"I didn't execute at a high enough level," Mahomes said.
"We were beating ourselves," rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire said.
The usual disclaimers apply here. But we've seen enough to know this isn't the Chiefs at their best. Not even close. And we know enough about the NFL _ Not For Long, and the ultimate copycat league _ to know the particulars of how the Patriots slowed the Chiefs will be used again. And again after that, until the Chiefs prove they can beat it.
The shorthand: The Patriots essentially deployed an extreme version of the Texans' plan in the season opener.
They used six defensive backs, sometimes more, dropping seven into coverage on many snaps. The coverage changed from Cover-2 to man. At times they dropped linemen and blitzed defensive backs. At other times they used stunts.
Presumably, the Patriots were prioritizing the long passes that fill highlights and light up scoreboards, preferring the Chiefs to throw underneath coverage or run the ball.
Normally, that's not much of a problem. The Patriots aren't the first to concentrate on Hill and the big passes. The Texans did this and the Chiefs scored 34 points. They led by 24 in the fourth quarter, largely thanks to intermediate passes (Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce combined for 132 yards and two touchdowns on 13 catches, none longer than 19 yards) and success on the ground (Edwards-Helaire had 138 yards and a score on 25 carries).
On this night, the Chiefs rarely found that same rhythm (six points, three punts and a fumble until late in the third quarter) and could not run effectively (64 yards on 16 carries by Edwards-Helaire).
"I just need to put my foot in the ground and get north on some runs," Edwards-Helaire said.
The Chiefs found some success late, particularly with some man-breaker routes, but the film will show more problems to fix than successes to remember.
Football is a complicated game that rarely allows for simple answers. This is no exception. There were times the Patriots' coverage effectively smothered the Chiefs' receivers. Sometimes, the Patriots' pass rush beat the Chiefs' offensive line. And other times, Mahomes misfired on the throw or did not see an open receiver.
"It'll be a good tape to learn from," Reid said.
Let's maintain perspective. The Chiefs won. They are 4-0, and if the worst we can say is that they are undefeated while playing less than their best (except that masterpiece against the Ravens) then the team is in great shape.
And the Chiefs are in great shape. Winning with a C+ game is a feature, not a flaw.
But the issue is still real for the Chiefs, and it's immediate. This was the first of three games in 11 days, each against strong, physical teams, culminating with the nationally televised showdown at Buffalo next Thursday.
Those teams do not have Belichick, the greatest coach of our time largely because of his genius scheming defense. But they do have more playmakers than the Patriots, and that's particularly true of the Bills.
Could a similar game plan against Mahomes, with decisively better talent, bring a different result? Particularly with a much better quarterback and playmakers on offense?
That's the Chiefs' current challenge. The solution would likely include a more effective run game _ a shared responsibility between the line and Edwards-Helaire _ and a passing game that punishes deep coverage with Kelce and others underneath.
The Chiefs have too much talent and too much brainpower to believe they can't come out of this stronger. But belief has nothing to do with it. They're facing a real question now, a sliver of a game plan that just might work appearing as the Chiefs take on a brutal chunk of their schedule.
