Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal has called for the team to be more consistent after another underwhelming performance against the Atlanta Falcons despite improving their 2024/25 NFL record to 3-0 for the season.
The defending champions assumed the lead of the AFC West with the 22-17 victory on Sunday Night Football as their defense proved to be impervious once again to rescue a struggling offense, an all-too-familiar story for the past year.
Despite Mahomes throwing for 217 yards and two touchdowns, the Chiefs blanked in the first and fourth quarter leaving them under substantial pressure at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Kirk Cousins.
So Leo Chenal, linebacker for the team, praised their defense as he called on the offense to up their game in the absence of Isiah Pacheco and Hollywood Brown, both sidelined through injury, as well as Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
“I think we are doing a really good job defending the run,” Chanel told Darren Smith. “First and foremost, I think we have got to be more consistent throughout the whole game.”
Mahomes has managed to maintain a 69.6 passer completion rate and has passed for 659 yards and five touchdowns but worryingly, he has thrown for five interceptions and has also allowed four sacks.
It’s costing the Chiefs the chance to put sustained and unrelenting pressure on rival defenses to force them to break and allow the champions to claim unassailable leads, which would allow them to manage minutes.
Managing minutes would be key for Travis Kelce, who has struggled in the opening three games, and at the age of 34, going onto 35 in November, faces questions about if he is physically up to standard for the NFL now.
Who do the Chiefs play in Week 4?
The Kansas City Chiefs are back on Sunday Night Football once again next week as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, live on CBS Sports from the So-Fi Stadium. The game is expected to kick-off at 16:25 ET/13:25 PT.
The Chargers are 2-1 for the season and lost their Week 3 game 20-10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
