What Marcus Mariota said after Commanders lost to Chiefs

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota is disappointed after the team's 28-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.

Mariota and the Commanders had chances to make an impact during the game, but it never materialized into scoring opportunities. Mariota spoke after the game about why those chances to score were never executed properly.

“We’ve got to clean those up. I feel like we’ve moved the ball well throughout the season. It’s getting to that point, the fringe area, where whether it’s a penalty, a turnover, it just stalls and kills drives. It’s unfortunate. We’ve got to look at the tape and figure out ways to get better. That is definitely something we have to face," Mariota said postgame.

Washington Commanders quarterback Marcus Mariota passes the ball against the Kansas City Chiefs. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Commanders fight, but it's not enough vs. Chiefs

Mariota was impressed with the Commanders' effort, but the execution of the game plan was not up to par against a Chiefs team that's been in the last three Super Bowls.

“I thought we came out well. I thought our guys battled. At the end of the day, when you’re not converting drives against this type of team, it’s tough because they’ll get going. I thought our defense did a great job holding them off and making plays, creating turnovers. We just didn’t do our part on offense," Mariota said.

Mariota also offered some praise to the Chiefs defense for shutting the Commanders out in the second half.

“No, they did a good job. We made a couple of third downs but for the most part, we didn’t execute. I took a bad sack, should’ve just thrown the ball away and given us a chance to maybe go for it on fourth. You’ve got to give credit to them. They played well in the second half," Mariota said of the Chiefs.

When playing the Chiefs, teams have to be diligent for 60 minutes. If they aren't, the Chiefs will expose their opponent, which is what happened against the Commanders.

While Washington played well in the first half, the Commanders needed to keep that going in the final 30 minutes to have a chance to beat the Chiefs. That lesson will come into play for the rest of the season as they see their margin for error running thin.

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