The Kansas City Chiefs were able to get the 2020 NFL season started off on the right foot with a lopsided 34-20 victory over the Houston Texans in Week 1. Regardless, safety Tyrann Mathieu feels there is still plenty of work to be done.

Although the offense managed to pick up where it left off, Mathieu feels the defense could have played better, via Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star:

“We have a lot more work to do,” Mathieu said. “We could have held those guys to seven points. . . . I’m pissed off. I felt like we played fairly decent up until the last couple of stretches in the fourth quarter. We started giving up big plays, big chunks.”

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The Texans managed to strike first to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Of course, the Chiefs' defense would hold them scoreless for the second and third quarters to allow their offense to score 31 unanswered points en route to a dominant win.

Mathieu's comments are indicative of the newfound expectations for this group heading into the 2020 campaign. After all, they have had ample time to get accustomed to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo's system following his arrival last year. While going against a talented offense led by quarterback Deshaun Watson presented its own challenge, they were clearly more than up to the task.

Although the emergence of the offense under quarterback Patrick Mahomes has largely served as the basis of their success, Mathieu is doing what he can to ensure that his defense is pulling its own weight.