The Kansas City Chiefs finally lost to the Denver Broncos on October 29 for the first time since 2015, and it was an ugly performance for Patrick Mahomes II and the offense.

Of course, the morning began with a bad omen after The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the reigning NFL MVP was battling the flu. “He is not feeling great, but he will play,” she informed, and play he did.

That decision resulted in one of Mahomes’ worst career performances — if not the worst — with two interceptions, one fumble lost and a 59.2 passer rating according to ESPN. The poor outing also prompted a question on the future, and how the Chiefs can keep this loss from turning into “a domino effect.”

“It won’t be,” Mahomes answered bluntly before walking off the podium.

The confident response may sound like empty words coming from another athlete, but the Chiefs QB has the track record to back it up. When Mahomes makes a promise to the Kingdom, he generally keeps it — and you could feel the conviction behind this Broncos promise.

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Chiefs Have Rallied Around Bad Losses in Years Past

It’s not the first time that Kansas City has suffered an embarrassing defeat. Fans quickly pointed to the 2022 Indianapolis Colts loss on social media — one of the catalysts that sparked a Super Bowl run a year ago.

In Week 3 of the 2022 season, the Chiefs were defeated by the Colts, 20-17. The Indianapolis club, led by Matt Ryan, was a huge underdog going into the game, and it was their first loss of the season at the time.

This Broncos mishap will be remembered as Kansas City’s second loss of the 2023 season, but it is their first when superstars Chris Jones and Travis Kelce, the team’s two most vital players behind quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are on the field.

To be fair, the latter required intravenous fluids before he could even suit up in Week 8, and his wrist injury also kept top linebacker Nick Bolton out of action. But that’s hardly an excuse, as Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid said following the game.

Kansas City will get their chance to bounce back against the Miami Dolphins in Germany on November 5. Both teams will journey overseas with 6-2 records.

The KC media asked Mahomes about his reported illness after the game.

“Yeah, I just started feeling bad last night,” the superstar signal-caller replied, “but I bounced back pretty well in the morning. Just trying to do whatever I can to go out there and play my best football.”

Later, Mahomes noted that it was “just stomach stuff” that was bothering him. “It is what it is,” he added with a shrug.

In terms of the result, the QB admitted that the Broncos had a “great gameplan” that they were able to execute involving “similar zone-type coverages” as Week 6 — while the Chiefs failed to get the job done on offense.

“Knowing that teams are gonna replicate [the Broncos defensive plan], and they’re going to do their different versions of it, [we’ll] try and find answers for that,” he voiced later on. “That’s the biggest thing… I’m sure other teams in the league are going to watch that, and we have to prove we have answers for that [defensive look].”

Mahomes also confirmed that there was never any chance he would not play in Week 8.