After the Chiefs improved their record to 3-0 with a win over the Falcons on Sunday night, Patrick Mahomes said he needs to play betterBill Belichick liked hearing that.

Belichick said Pat McAfee that Mahomes’ focus on himself is exactly the kind of attitude that makes him great and pushes his teammates to elevate their game.

“One of the things that really caught my eye last night was when they were interviewing Mahomes,” Belichick said. “They’re 3-0 and you could just sit there and say they’re on track and here we go again, big win in Atlanta and all that, but here Mahomes is talking about how bad they’re playing and how much harder they need to work and improve. That’s the mindset of a champion. It just jumps out at you. They won a big game and he’s talking about how much work they still have to do, how much better they need to be, that it all starts with him. I would still take his performance over a lot of other guys in this league, but here he is taking it on his shoulders. When he says that and you’re another member of the team, it’s hard for you not to take that same mindset and say, if Patrick feels like we need to play better and he needs to play better, then maybe I need to play better too. I thought that was great leadership.”

Mahomes hasn’t played particularly well this season, at least by his own standards, but Belichick believes his high standards for himself are one of the reasons Mahomes could lead the Chiefs to their third consecutive championship.