Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs Morphing Into a Defensive Team, After Travis Kelce Ignored Captain Like Daughter Sterling

331 yards! Patrick Mahomes delivered his best performance of the season on Monday, sending the New Orleans Saints back home with a loss in the Week 5 game. With this, the Kansas City Chiefs improved to 5-0 in the 2024 season. However, this isn’t the only thing they have improved in. There’s much more within the team that has advanced in this season.

And in a recent episode of Sunday Night Football on NFL on NBC, Mike Florio and Devin McCourty revealed what it is! During their discussion, Florio pointed out analyst Chris Simms’ comments, saying, “They [Chiefs] have morphed into a defensive team. We get so caught up in Patrick Mahomes, what he can do, and Travis Kelce and all the things that go along with him at this stage of his career, but the defense (of the team is) capable of suffocation.”

He analyzed that the defense of the team has developed the ability to suffocate opposing offenses, with standout players like Chris Jones making significant impacts at key moments. Now, this could be taken in somewhat a negative way, that Mahomes’ offensive team is becoming more like a strong defensive team, especially after Travis Kelce ignored Patrick Mahomes in the Saints’ game.

However, the story is different for McCourty, as he believes the same, but the fact is that both the Chiefs’ offense and defense are working together. During the Tuesday discussion, the former cornerback emphasized, “The thing that sticks out to me is even now like Simms says, this has morphed into a defensive team; it’s how well they complement each other in these big games.” He also found it odd that the Saints chose a defensive strategy that allowed Patrick Mahomes to make smart decisions and drive down the field. As in the game, the QB threw for 331 yards and connected well with receivers like Travis Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

In addition to that, defensively, they kept the Saints QB and their offense in check. For instance, they limited Alvin Kamara to just 26 rushing yards and continuously forced the quarterback to be under pressure. Hence, at last, the Chiefs won the Monday game again 26-13, and Patrick Mahomes is now waiting for some more weapons to build up the team even stronger.

Now that the team is evolving, according to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce is also changing in a different direction.

Why did Patrick Mahomes call Travis Kelce, Sterling?

In a press conference after the Chiefs’ victory over the Saints, Patrick Mahomes shared a funny moment involving Travis Kelce. He compared Kelce’s listening skills to those of his 3-year-old daughter Sterling, saying that, like his daughter, Kelce didn’t exactly follow the instructions. But why?

So what happened was, during the game, the Chiefs attempted a lateral play where Patrick Mahomes passed the ball to Kelce, expecting him to simply get into field goal range. But instead, Kelce improvised, making a sudden move left and tossing the ball to running back Samaje Perine. And the reason for him to do so was because he was trying to gain more yards. Now, though Perine came close, they didn’t convert the play.

This led Patrick Mahomes to joke about the tight end with the media, explaining, “I’m shaking my head because, before the play, I told him before the play that I was going to throw it to him to get into field goal range. He underhand shoveled it across the entire field.” Hence, the 29-year-old compared him to his daughter, saying, “It’s like I’m talking to Sterling.” Nevertheless, despite Kelce’s improvisation, Mahomes praised his teammate for being a special player, saying as long as it works, no one will complain.

So, besides it, this lighthearted moment showed the risks the Chiefs are willing to take in their pursuit of a 3-peat, even if their plays don’t always go according to plan.

With this said and done, do also check out our latest Think Tank exclusive interview with Doug Sanders. It’s packed with insights on the current NFL season, college football, NIL, and much more.