The 2019 Chiefs will be defined largely by how they cope without Patrick Mahomes
You can hear Frank Clark before you can see him, this deep, booming voice that fills any room he’s in and probably the one next door. In this moment, just after the Chiefs beat the Broncos on national TV, the baritone shot down the tunnel from the field and through the cavernous hallway big enough for buses and a horse trailer.
“PARTY IN THE LOCKER ROOM!” the Chiefs defensive end shouted. “PARTY IN THE LOCKER ROOM!”
Brett Veach, the Chiefs’ general manager, stood outside the doors and clapped. Tammy Reid, the head coach’s wife, had a smile and a high-five for every player who walked by. This is her move, always, and she learned long ago that wins are precious and should be celebrated no matter what.
Safety Daniel Sorensen teased running back Damien Williams about not playing late in the game. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo laughed. Assistant coach Brendan Daly grabbed special teams coordinator Dave Toub’s shoulder and said congratulations. Defensive tackle Chris Jones, safety Jordan Lucas and running back Darrel Williams cracked up about something.
Professional athletes can be among the world’s best compartmentalizers. The football machine moves on. It waits for no man.
Not even Patrick Mahomes.
Whether sincere or as a deliberate fake-it-until-you-make-it thing, the Chiefs presented a resilient face for an injury that is season-changing even if it is not season-ending.
The Chiefs beat the Broncos 30-6 here Thursday night but woke up Friday morning an objectively lesser team. Mahomes’ right kneecap became dislocated in the game. The Chiefs’ medical team put it back in place relatively quickly, and the initial vibe around the team was cautiously optimistic that the worst outcome was avoided.
But he remains likely to miss some games, maybe a lot, and the rest of the Chiefs’ season will be defined by how they react.
They could not have done better with their first test, pushing a 10-6 score at the time of Mahomes’ injury into a blowout so convincing the bleachers started thinning in the third quarter.
The second test came in the locker room, and, well, you could find whatever emotion you wanted there.
Sickness from receiver Demarcus Robinson: “He was just pointing at his knee, and it just looked kind of deformed, you know what I mean?”
Admiration from right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif: “He’s a strong, strong man.”
Pride from linebacker Reggie Ragland: “Whatever happened before, that’s over with. We just gotta keep moving forward and just get better as a team.”
Stubbornness from rookie receiver Mecole Hardman: “Next man up, you know?”
Realism from tight end Travis Kelce: “You don’t have time (to regroup). You know? You don’t have time. You have to go.”
The Chiefs really do have much to be proud of. Their foundation had begun to shake, at least a little, with consecutive home losses that exposed both injuries and weaknesses. The offense sputtered on soft protection up front and too many misfires by Mahomes.
Backup QB Matt Moore had never thrown a pass to many of his receivers — in practice or otherwise — but played as well as could be expected in that situation. His highlight was a gorgeous 57-yard touchdown in which he stepped up in a shrinking pocket and hit receiver Tyreek Hill in stride.
The defense had given up an average of 190 yards rushing over four games, with opponents staying on the ground not just to keep Mahomes off the field but because it was the easiest way to move the ball.
On a short week, on the road, this could have been a moment for bad to turn to worse. Instead, the Chiefs delivered the type of (Screw) You performance that good teams create in rough spots.
The Broncos managed just 205 yards and lost 79 on nine sacks. They managed just 71 yards rushing, and their 3.2 average per carry was a season worst and the best for the Chiefs’ defense.
For at least one night, it was the type of fast, aggressive, hard-hitting performance the front office envisioned when it hired Spagnuolo and reshaped the roster.
If not for Mahomes’ injury, that’s what Kansas City would be talking about.
But, well, yeah. If not for the fat and sodium, barbecue would be health food.
The challenge is enormous. Unprompted, Reid offered that the Chiefs did not change much about their play-calling after the injury, but the offense will look and operate fundamentally differently with Moore instead of Mahomes.
Defenses will attack Moore with impunity, unless and until he shows he can deal with it. He’ll need to be clean on his protection calls, stay calm in the pocket and present a defiant and confident exterior to teammates who still want this season to reach the Super Bowl.
More than anything else, he’ll need to make the right reads and accurate throws. If the industry consensus was that he could do these things at a high level, he’d have already had a job when the Chiefs called him in August.
Mahomes’ talent has covered mistakes and warts, and it’s not an insult to Moore to say that’s done. If healthy, Mahomes seems a good bet to finish among the best quarterbacks of all time. But he is also among the team’s hardest workers, and most loved teammates.
That’s a lot to lose.
It is often said that humans learn best from challenges, not success, and the Chiefs are now facing the challenge of a season. From the front office to the coaches to the players, the Chiefs have long bragged on their locker room.
And by all appearances, they are a close group. They share group texts. They work out together. They vacation together. They go to each others’ houses for dinner during the week.
Some of that is genuine friendship and a common goal. Some is that teams tend to get along better when a Super Bowl is realistic.
That bond will be tested in new ways now. Their leader is injured. Their best player is out. Their answer for the toughest problems is gone, at least for a while.
Their 2019 season will now be defined by how they cope.
This story was originally published October 18, 2019 at 5:00 AM.