Kansas
Patrick Mahomes Critical of His Performance Despite Chiefs’ Win
Similar to last season, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense has required a bit of help from the defense in order to win games. Unlike the 2023-24 campaign, though, the inconsistent play of quarterback Patrick Mahomes can’t be mostly chalked up to a lack of execution or talent around him.
Sunday night’s triumph over the Atlanta Falcons was a perfect example of that. Mahomes completed 26 of 39 passes, but the two-time MVP winner amassed just 217 yards through the air with a pair of touchdowns. His 87.2 passer rating was far from what folks have grown to expect, and the eye test backs it up.
Following Kansas City’s win in Atlanta, head coach Andy Reid said his team has “a ton of things to work on” moving forward. A good chunk of that is on the offensive side of the ball, which ties back to quarterback play.
Fueled by a turnover in the first quarter, Mahomes averaged just 0.12 EPA per play against the Falcons. That made his Week 2 figure (-0.19) look impeccable, but it also trailed his Week 1 mark (0.42) by quite a bit. This middle-ground performance isn’t good enough for the Chiefs to have sustained success.
Using his early interception as proof, Mahomes believes he needs to get back to the basics. It will make him more effective in games, bringing the Chiefs’ offense along with him.
“I think just footwork stuff,” Mahomes said. “I’ve got to get my base right. I think I’m trusting my arm too much on some of those throws. Even the first throw of the game, I just kind of flicked it – kind of off-balance – and don’t hit Rashee (Rice) going down the seam there. I’ve got to get back to my fundamentals. That’s stuff that I go through sometimes [but] not usually early in the season like this. Luckily for me, I’m not playing my best football and we’re still getting wins. I’ve got to get better to make the offense better.”
Three weeks into his seventh run as the Chiefs’ full-time starter, Mahomes has thrown four interceptions. Last season, he set a career-high in that department with 14. Despite topping the 4,000-yard passing mark and tossing 27 touchdowns on the year, it was viewed as a down effort from the consensus best quarterback in football. With wideout Xavier Worthy added into the fold for this year, many expected Mahomes to approach or reach the statistical heights he had in 2022. That hasn’t been the case thus far.
Mahomes will take the wins over impressive numbers, surely, but a higher floor for him will have a better impact on the Kansas City offense. Even with the 29-year-old scuffling a bit, Rice has picked up right where he left off as a rookie. On the heels of a 12-catch, 110-yard performance, he said he loves that his quarterback thinks there’s room to improve.
“I love that, just because he’s the greatest quarterback I’ve ever played with,” Rice said. “Whenever he feels like he hasn’t had a great game, I feel the same way. We’ve just got to get back to practice so we can get better together.”
Read More: Four Takeaways from the Chiefs’ 22-17 Win Over the Falcons
Kansas
Kansas Football Gears Up for TCU: What You Need to Know
As the Kansas Jayhawks prepare to host the TCU Horned Frogs at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday, both teams are seeking their first Big 12 victory of the season.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the matchup.
1.) Recent Performance and Team Dynamics
Kansas enters the game with a record of 1-3 (0-1 in the Big 12) after a heart-wrenching 32-28 loss to West Virginia, where they demonstrated a strong running attack, racking up 247 yards. Senior running back Devin Neal and redshirt junior Daniel Hishaw Jr. played key roles in the offense.
TCU, on the other hand, sits at 2-2 (0-1 in the Big 12) following a significant 66-42 defeat to SMU, despite a huge performance from sophomore quarterback Josh Hoover, who threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns.
This contest marks the first meeting between the two teams since October 2022, when TCU narrowly defeated Kansas.
2.) Defensive Strategies and Challenges
Defensively, both squads have faced challenges recently. Kansas’ defensive coordinator, Brian Borland, has highlighted the talent of TCU’s offense, particularly their effective wide receivers.
Meanwhile, TCU’s defense has struggled against the run, allowing over 260 rushing yards in their last two games.
Kansas offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes has indicated that they will look to exploit this weakness, emphasizing a strategy focused on a strong ground game to gain the upper hand against TCU’s defense.
3.) Rivalry and Historical Context
This game will mark the 40th encounter between the Jayhawks and Horned Frogs, with TCU leading the series 26-9-4.
The Horned Frogs have dominated recent matchups, winning the last four meetings, with Kansas’ last victory against TCU occurring on October 27, 2018.
Additionally, this matchup holds historical significance as it will be the Jayhawks’ first game at Arrowhead Stadium since 2011.
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Kansas
LAFC celebrates finally snapping its finals skid, winning the U.S. Open Cup
It was a scene that felt both familiar and long overdue for LAFC.
Since entering Major League Soccer seven years ago, the team has raised an MLS Cup and two Supporters’ Shields before its fans at BMO Stadium. Only the Columbus Crew has won more trophies during that span.
Yet when a massive crimson victory platform was wheeled onto the stadium floor Wednesday night, minutes after LAFC beat Sporting Kansas City 3-1 in extra time to win its first U.S. Open Cup championship, the mood was more relief than joy.
Even the fireworks felt compulsory rather than celebratory.
Wednesday’s game was the team’s fifth final in the past two seasons; according to MLS, only three other teams in league history have played for hardware that often in so short a span.
LAFC is the only one of those team to have lost four in a row. It couldn’t afford another loss.
“It means a lot to win tonight,” said goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who was embraced by a group at teammates at the final whistle.
“This trophy,” he added “is really important.”
“Tonight was a bit special” agreed Olivier Giroud, who won a World Cup alongside Lloris for France and now has won a U.S. Open with him at LAFC.
Special because it proved, in case anyone had forgotten, that LAFC can win a final. In fact, the team is just the fourth club in MLS history to win a Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup in a three-year span — and the first to do so since the Seattle Sounders in 2014-16.
So even with four finals loses in a row coming into Wednesday, coach Steve Cherundolo said the team had no demons to exorcise, a view he repeated after joining his players in parading their latest trophy around the field.
“I don’t know why you don’t believe me,” he said. “You have a winner and a loser in every final. And before every final, it’s kind of like a coin toss.
“We’re happy, obviously, to win. And I think we were due.”
The win didn’t come easily, however.
After a cautious, physical and scoreless first half, Giroud’s first goal since joining LAFC this summer gave the team a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute. But Erik Thommy, whose turnover at midfield led to Giroud’s score, matched that with a goal of his own seven minutes later.
That sent the game to extra time, where the most star-studded team in MLS was rescued by goals from substitutes Omar Campos and Kei Kamara.
Campos’ score 12 minutes into the first extra period was also his first with the team and came after the Mexican defender ran onto a Cristian Olivera pass as he entered the penalty area. He then dribbled across the top of the box to create space before drilling a right-footed shot inside the far post.
Kamara, who came off the bench at the start of extra time, then put the game away with a header four minutes into the second extra-time period.
“I am ecstatic,” Cherundolo said “for the players.”
“I thought it would be more relief,” he added when asked about his emotions. “But it really is just joy.”
Probably a little bit of fatigue as well since the game was LAFC’s 94th game in all competition since the start of last season. No MLS team has ever come close to that.
And that schedule and LAFC’s recent results in finals are likely related. Because if playing in so many competitions (MLS, CONCACAF Champions League, Campeones Cup, Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup) during the past two years has increased the team’s chances of playing for titles, it’s also forced it to play a game every five days during the last two seasons.
Now, with all those other tournaments out the way, LAFC (14-8-7 in MLS play) has nothing left to focus on but its final five regular-season games and the start of the MLS playoffs.
“We know we can improve,” Giroud said of a grind that resumes Saturday in Cincinnati. “This Cup will bring us confidence for the rest of the season because we don’t want to stop there. We have a strong end of the season, qualify for the playoffs and go as far as we can in the playoffs.
“We are hungry. We know our potential. Our qualities.”
For Sporting Kansas City, meanwhile, the fact it was playing for hardware at the end of what will likely be its worst season since 1999 — when it played in a different state under a different name — is part of the magic of the U.S. Open Cup.
SKC (8-16-7) is one of just two teams that have already been eliminated from playoff contention with three weeks to play. Yet Wednesday it was playing for a fifth U.S. Open Cup title, which would have made it the most successful MLS team in tournament history. But after playing LAFC even for more than 100 minutes, its players would up parading across the makeshift crimson stage to collect consolation medals while LAFC carried off the Cup.
“Details count in soccer,” Thommy said. “It’s the result we have.”
Kansas
Kansas City police ask for help to locate missing 63-year-old man
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Police in Kansas City, Missouri, are asking for the public’s help to locate a man who went missing Wednesday morning.
Timothy Beckman, 63, was last seen about 8 a.m. near 76th and Prospect Avenue, police said.
Beckman was wearing a black t-shirt. He needs immediate medical treatment.
Anyone who sees him is asked to call 911.
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