The Chiefs fell for the second straight week at home Sunday, a 31-24 loss to the Texans. They also fell to 4-2 on the season — and farther behind the AFC-front-running 6-0 Patriots.
So what's wrong with Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City? A lot — enough to think the Chiefs are in danger of seeing their conference championship dreams dashed.
The Texans stole from the Colts' winning Week 5 blueprint and executed it even better at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 6. After Indy dominated time of possession with a prolific rushing attack (37:15 and 180 yards), Houston raised the bar (39:48 and 192 yards).
VIDEO: Every Patrick Mahomes throw vs. Texans
That means Mahomes hasn't been on the field all that much of late, which makes it hard for him to beat anyone, especially with an ankle injury he's playing through and a struggling offensive line that's missing left tackle Eric Fisher. After completing just 56.4 percent of his passes against the Colts, he was further off against the Texans, completing 54.3 percent (19 of 35 for 273 yards, three TDs, one INT).
Instead of doing more with the running game to help Mahomes, the Chiefs went from 11 non-Mahomes rushing attempts against the Colts to 10 against the Texans.
The score was a lot closer than the game really was. The Texans helped out with a fumble from running back Carlos Hyde and two interceptions from quarterback Deshaun Watson, one of which came in the red zone. For the rest of the game, Hyde (26 rushes, 112 yards, one touchdown) and Watson (30-of-42 passing, 280 yards, one touchdown; 10 carries, 42 yards, two touchdowns) mostly did whatever they wanted.
Mahomes did get a huge boost from the return of go-to wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who caught two touchdowns, one of which was a leaping highlight-reel 46-yard catch in the first quarter. But he missed many of his downfield connections elsewhere and was helped most by throwing to running backs Darrel and Damien Williams. With the Texans playing keepaway, Mahomes mustered a career-low 41 yards passing in the second half.
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The Chiefs' offense has a small margin for error, even when the defense gets a few takeaways, because that same defense was gashed for 472 yards Sunday. They're not giving up big pass plays, but they can't get off the field because they can't stop the running game or the short-to-intermediate passing game.
Opponents are going on long, methodical drives to help their defenses. Kansas City, on the other hand, is playing awful complementary football; it's being horribly unbalanced when there are hints it can have great success running the ball as it plays off the threat of Mahomes' downfield passing.
If the Texans and Colts can do this and beat the Chiefs, you can bet the copycatting will continue with the better teams in the AFC (and NFC). New England won't get to play Kansas City until Week 14, but you can bet Bill Belichick, fresh off his team's Thursday night domination of the Giants, will file away the formula for slowing down Mahomes.
Before their Week 12 bye and that Patriots game, the Chiefs will face the Packers and the Vikings in their next two home games. Those are two more teams that can execute a run-heavy, ball-control game plan.
Mahomes is the reigning NFL MVP, but the Chiefs are asking him to be too valuable of a player for them at the moment. Coach Andy Reid has gotten too pass-happy with his offense, and coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is seeing more break than bend from his defense.
The Chiefs can still ride Mahomes to another division title in the weak AFC West, but in terms of battling for conference supremacy, they look a lot farther away from the best.
