Q: What does it mean to pass 5,000 yards passing?
MAHOMES: “I mean obviously it’s really cool if you look at the names that are on that list. You’re talking about the all-time greats with Drew Brees and Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, so just to be a part of the list that has those names on there it’s a special accomplishment and I’m glad I have the people around me and the coaches around me to be able to do it.”
Q: What were the challenges of playing through after you got a little caught up and seemed to come up a little sore?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean there wasn’t many challenges. I feel like I was fine. I feel like my feet got bad there in the second half and then I missed the deep throws whenever they were there and so when you’re playing a defense like this, whenever they give you opportunities you have to execute on them, and I didn’t today. I took what was there and did a lot of good things as far as moving the chains that first half and the second half I just missed a lot of throws which I have to hit.”
Q: So, the hit didn’t impact you?
MAHOMES: “No. I don’t know if it impacted it at all. It’s just my mechanics. I lost my mechanics in that second half, and I was trying to find a way to get back into them. I think you saw even in some of the completions – at least I felt like my feet weren’t in the right spot. I was kind of throwing off my back foot and I think that whenever I get in that mode is whenever I can struggle so I have to be better at kind of correcting that stuff in game.”
Q: What’s the process of correcting mechanics in game?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean it’s hard. When you’re out there live (and) people are flying around you but I just have to be better at stepping up in the pocket, finding that soft spot in the pocket and then making the throw. I think even the last one to Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) on the sideline, that’s a throw I’ve thrown a million times and leaving it short. I told him to get to the sticks and to go out right there at the sticks and then I was the one that threw it short of the sticks so just have to be better. I have to be better about hitting those throws whenever they present themselves.”
Q: On the interception. Where do you draw the line between making that play and protecting field goal position?
MAHOMES: “Yeah. It was a bad throw just in general. I mean I left it really far inside. I don’t even know if (Justin) Watson would’ve been able to catch it because I threw it so far inside. I thought there was a window there but those are those throws we talk about that’s like him or nobody. Kind of like the end of the half where you throw it on the sideline. If he can make the catch, he makes the catch. If he doesn’t then it’s just an incompletion but that was just a bad throw to a good player (who) made a good play on (the ball). So, I just have to be better, especially in the redzone, of not turning the ball over.”
Q: You had a deep connection to Kadarius Toney. What does he do for your offense?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, he’s another weapon. I mean obviously you’ve all seen him when he gets the ball and he can make people miss and make stuff happen, but I don’t think people have really seen him run those deep routes yet. So, when you have another guy that can go deep and take the pressure off guys like Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) and Mecole (Hardman), when he gets back, and J-Wat (Justin Watson), Skyy (Moore), all those guys and have another guy, it helps you to be more diverse as an offense. They don’t know where it’s coming from.”
Q: What is most satisfying from today’s performance?
MAHOMES: “There’s not a lot satisfied for me. Just the fact that we battled through. I mean the team – the defense played their tail off. We put them in a lot of bad situations, and they kept making stops, especially in that second half. I thought the O-line played well. I thought the receivers and tight ends played well. I just got to be better at putting the ball on them in good spots. I feel like I didn’t play at the top of my game today and I thought guys around me stepped up so that’s the best thing I took from it. I’m not always going (at the top of my game) and when guys around me step up and we can still win football games it’s a good sign.”
Q: Jerick McKinnon has had seven receiving touchdowns in the last five games. Is that play-calling or developing your trust with him in the redzone? Why is he suddenly catching fire?
MAHOMES; “Yeah, I was talking to him about it. He just finds a way to get in the endzone. A lot of those things he’s not the first read, he’s not the second read. I mean the first one (first touchdown) he was. We had the little screen pass versus the pressure look that they had that we called that (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Eric Bieniemy) EB and the coaches called. That was a great call. But I think the fact that he’s able to just be in the right spot at the right time whenever I need to hit a check down, I can get it to him and then he makes the most of it by getting into the endzone. It’s cool to see because he just does his job. I think that’s the biggest thing is he does his job to the best of his ability – if that’s protecting, if that’s running the route, whatever that is, running the football. And those are the guys that you need to go out there and win football games and you just want other guys to keep doing that because he does it to the best of his ability every single time.”
Q: It seems like you were pretty frustrated with your performance today. Will that change the upcoming week at all?
MAHOMES: “I just got to continue to go back to my fundamentals, especially as the season goes on. You get in funks sometimes and you have to find a way to battle through and we did today, but I’ll just really emphasize my feet, having a good base in the pocket and making the throws. It’s hard to get reps on those deep ones because you’re at the end of the season, you can’t get a lot of reps but when we have them in practice, I’m going to make sure that I throw them the right way and don’t just throw it for the completion, throw it for the touchdown.”
Q: Do you think it’s good to have a ‘reminder’ like this going into the playoffs?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean especially when you win. When you win and you don’t play your best ball, you don’t feel like you play your best ball, that’s always a good thing. We had a really good first half. We didn’t score because I had the bad interception in the redzone there. You take a lot of good things from this. (In the) fourth quarter we played well but at the end of the day we have to find a way that for four quarters play our best football whenever we get to the playoffs, and I feel like we still haven’t done that yet.”
Q: How’s this scenario for you to watch the Bengals & Bills game tomorrow?
MAHOMES: “It’s going to keep me up past my bedtime (laughter). It’s going to end up starting at eight o’clock. I try not to be too invested in it. It’s going to be a great football game with two great teams. And teams that you’re probably going to see in the playoffs, probably both or one or the other. You just try to just watch as a fan like I always do. I mean it’s great quarterbacks, great defenses, great players and as a fan of the game I like watching great football teams go up against each other.”
Q: Can you put your finger on why you guys are able to win these close games especially against AFC West opponents.
MAHOMES: “The biggest thing I can say is the coaches prepare us. The coaches prepare us to play these games against – we know we’re going to get their best shot every single time and they’ve prepared us and put in situations when stuff’s not going good how can you find a way to make it a positive. And for us, we’ve done a great job of even when we haven’t been playing our best football, we’ve been able to respond and find a way to win them.”
Q: There’s still one more game left to be played and you heard ‘MVP’ chants today. What’s that make you feel?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, it’s special man. GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is a special place. These fans, Chiefs Kingdom is a special group of people and to get their support every time I’m out here or if I’m in public, whatever it is, it’s something that I’ll always cherish. And so them to support me and support this time like they do, it’s something that I don’t think anyone else that’s not a part of this Chiefs football team will ever understand.”
Q: On Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s play thus far. How valuable can he be for the offense?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean I went right up to him after the game and just told him I let him down today. I mean he had probably two touchdowns and over 50-yards that he should’ve had today, and I missed the throws. One was short and I know there’s pressure, but I can make that throw. And one was long. I have to be better. I tell him just to continue to go and that’s the type of player he is. He’s going to continue to be out there and be a playmaker. I think you’ve seen in our big games this year (that) he’s been a guy that’s been very valuable to us, and I expect it to happen in the playoffs when we have that game changing speed and ability, you’re going to be a guy that we need when it comes down to where we want to go.”
Q: This is a follow up on Jerick McKinnon. To put it in perspective, he’s the only running back since 1970 to have five receiving touchdowns in consecutive games. When you hear that, how special is it?
MAHOMES: “No, I mean it’s extremely special (laughter). It’s so cool to me because he’s one of those guys that – like I said, he does it the right way. It’s not like he’s looking for the glory or the praise. He just comes to work every single day with a smile on his face and he brings the energy. You ask anybody in the locker room (and) he’s probably one of, if not the favorite guy in the locker room. Everybody loves him and that’s the type of guy he is and it’s good to see that it’s paying off, all the hard work that he’s doing. And hopefully he can keep scoring touchdowns. It’s a good thing for us.”
Q: Can you describe the second touchdown to Jerick McKinnon? It looked like he slipped out pretty late from the backfield.
MAHOMES: “Yeah, yeah. The second one, the first one he slipped out – it wasn’t the protection. He was supposed to slip out of the backfield. We were kind of bluffing the protection and we wanted him to do that. And the second one was a great designed play the coaches have where they wanted to get that attention on all those guys on the right, especially (Travis) Kelce and then we slipped Jet (Jerick McKinnon) out of the backfield and then he kind of ran underneath Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) and Marquez did a good job of kind of running interference or whatever you call it (laughter). So it’s a special thing that the coaches always design great plays and then you go out there and execute and it takes everybody. Like I’m saying, ‘running interference’ and everybody’s laughing. I mean you have to have that fine line of running interference but not picking and I think that’s something that you have to really emphasize in the league this year.”