While the NFL sorts out whether Tom the GOAT should talk to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are sorting through the loss to the Bills. Here are three reasons the Chiefs are in trouble after losing their first game of the 2024 season against the Bills.

One good thing for the Chiefs is they get a breather in Week 12 when they travel to play the Panthers. It should be a walk in the park against the lowly 3-7 team. If it’s not, more question marks will emerge for the two-time defending Super Bowl champions.

The biggest thing about the Chiefs’ loss to the Bills isn’t so much about ending an unbeaten run, or even showing any chinks in the armor. The main thing about the loss is it shows more vulnerability for a team already displaying less than dominance.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes can’t do it alone

As good as Mahomes is, he needs plenty of help if the Chiefs are going to reach the pinnacle again this season.

The Chiefs said the right things about their 30-21 decision against the Bills. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said it came down to Josh Allen and the Bills making plays, according to chiefs.com.

“They made plays when they needed to,” Reid said. “It’s a great game to learn from for some of our young guys. When two good teams play each other, the margin between winning and losing is small. That starts with me, and we can all learn from it and take something out of this. It will make us better down the road.”

But the thing about making plays is important. Mahomes connected on 22 of 33 passes for only 196 yards. He did hit for three touchdowns, but also had two interceptions. These numbers look a little suspicious in terms of being enough in such a showdown game.

The loss means the Bills have the tiebreaker advantage against the Chiefs. If it comes down to the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, it’s a huge difference playing in Buffalo as opposed to Kansas City.

Mahomes said the Chiefs can use the loss in a positive way.

“You can use it as fuel,” Mahomes said. “We feel like we can play better, so we’ll get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end.”

Mahomes added, according to espn.com, the first loss didn’t crush the Chiefs.

“The undefeated thing was cool. But that’s not our ultimate goal. So we’ll keep building toward that,” Mahomes said. “That’s a good football team. Nothing to hang your head on losing to them. We feel like we can play better. So we’ll get back to work and try to use this as a spark so we can be a better football team in the end.”

It is fair to note the Chiefs have learned in the past. Buffalo has won four straight regular-season meetings dating to 2021. However, the Chiefs have won three straight playoff matchups, including a 27-24 win at Buffalo in the divisional round in January.

The difference-maker must be WR DeAndre Hopkins

And there seem to be questions as to whether he has enough left in the tank. Hopkins is 32 years old and a 12-year NFL veteran. Can he be enough of a weapon to get the Chiefs over the top against foes like the Bills? His three catches for 29 yards on Sunday suggest the answer is no.

Still, Reid said there are good things about Hopkins, according to Sports Illustrated.

“He’s great with the contested balls,” Reid said. “That’s what he’s great with. So if you get it in — he has long arms and big hands. And if you get it in that radius, you’re pretty sure he’s going to get that son of a gun. We’ve had good receivers here and we have good receivers here, but that’s his strength right there.”

Mahomes seems to believe Hopkins will come around as well.

“I think just the ability to win one-on-one is special,” Mahomes said. “I mean, that truly is special and sometimes it gets lost because whenever you’ve got a guy on the boundary that’s one-on-one with — I mean, like this week, he was with (Patrick) Surtain. And Surtain’s one of the best corners in the league. And he was winning some of those matchups.

“He’s really kind of showcasing that he can win one-on-one versus anybody. That’s stuff that puts pressure on the defense when I’m hitting those guys in those one-on-one matchups and making them push guys over which is opening up everybody else. So that, as well as being able to make tough and contested catches like the deep cross he had over the middle of the field. That’s stuff that just, in my mind, shows me that I need to give him more and more chances in those situations.”

The odds are stacked against the Chiefs

It’s too difficult to have things fall together for three straight years in the NFL. Injuries are usually the biggest culprit, but age factors into the equation as well.

Look at how Travis Kelce is playing this season. He had two catches for eight yards against the Bills. Those numbers are so bad, he might as well not have suited up. Kelce produced his fifth awful showing of the season.Maybe he doesn’t have it anymore at age 35. That may be young in terms of dating Taylor Swift, but folks it’s NFL old.

So the Chiefs face age and injury problems along with the determination of other teams. The Chiefs likely won’t be able to get past the Bills or the Ravens in the playoffs this season.