Patrick Mahomes responds to criticism from Chiefs fans

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs may be sitting atop the AFC West at the moment, but it is not enough for Chiefs fans who have become accustomed to winning big week-in and week-out over the last five years.

Fans have taken shots at Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the defense this season. Mahomes has heard it all and, now back in the driver's seat in the division, responded to the criticism.

Patrick Mahomes' response to criticism from fans

Joining the Drive, a sports podcast, the Chiefs quarterback was asked if fans had overreacted early in the season. Essentially, Mahomes didn't think the fans overreacted, noting that every game should be treated with equally high importance. Here's what Mahomes had to say about whether fans overreacted:

"I mean, not necessarily. I mean, I think the biggest thing is the season is a very long thing. I mean, people try to kind of group it together and say every week such an important week. I mean every week is important, but you it's over a long amount of time. And so I think it wasn't overreaction, because we usually start off highly, usually win a lot of games early on. But if you look at every season that we've had, there's always been a little bit of spell. We weren't playing our best football, we've had to figure out ways to get better. I think that just happened a lot earlier this season. And it's made us better in this long run. And hopefully we can keep that momentum going because we have a tough couple games coming up and trying to keep that momentum going into the playoffs."

Mahomes didn't attack the fans or say "I told you so," which may have been tempting. Instead, Mahomes took a level-headed approach and gave a rather presidential response. The quarterback is correct in saying the Chiefs have had their ups and downs at times over the last few seasons.

The Chiefs clearly haven't been perfect during their rule of the AFC West. Their defense has been painful to watch at times. Their slow starts in games have been routine. That said, they have the same core pieces and have always been able to pull it out in games.

Dallas Cowboys v Kansas City Chiefs

The difference this season has been that rather than starting slow in a game and winning late, the team started the season slow and has since turned it around late. To win the AFC, they will likely need to win out. It starts on Sunday Night Football in a tilt against the Denver Broncos in a game that decides the leader in the AFC West.

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