While defense sputters, Chiefs’ Reid and Mahomes see growth in offense’s performance
The final dress rehearsal didn’t bring down the house, but the show will go on and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will take center stage when the regular season opens in California in a couple of weeks.
Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense will likely take the field in the opener — assuming they don’t play at all in the final preseason game — having scored a grand total of 20 points as a unit during the preseason.
The starting offense — minus left guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (in the NFL’s concussion protocol) — received its most extensive playing time and mustered just 10 points in a 27-20 loss to the Chicago Bears on Saturday at Soldier Field.
Ten points in two-plus quarters from the starting offense and its first-year starter at quarterback against Chicago’s backups wasn’t exactly the ideal showstopper to propel them into the regular season, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid and Mahomes pointed toward signs of positive growth during their post-game comments.
“Every rep that Patrick gets is a positive rep,” Reid said. “So he was able to come out with a 112 quarterback rating today, had some great plays and had a chance to make a few others if we do a couple things right. Then he got better than he was the week before.”
Mahomes completed 18 of 24 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown. He connected with seven different receivers, and he led the offense to a touchdown-scoring drive on its first possession for the first time this preseason.
Mahomes’ longest play of the day came on a connection with, no surprise, Tyreek Hill. But the ball traveled less than five yards in the air as Hill darted behind the line of scrimmage and in front of Mahomes, hauled in a shovel pass and sped around the end for a 28-yard gain.
Mahomes capped that drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Hunt. He set the pass protection, read the blitz, took the snap, quickly set up in three steps and slung the ball on a swing pass to Hunt on the right side coming out of the backfield. Hunt caught it in perfect position to run into the end zone untouched.
“It was just one of our hot routes that if they brought this guy, then he’s got to get his eyes around fast,” Mahomes said. “He did, and I just put it on him. Then you’ve got him in open space, and that’s usually a good thing.”
Mahomes, who threw one interception last week and another pass that was dropped by a defender in the end zone, showed a more discerning eye in his third outing of the preseason.
He tossed a ball out of bounds when he didn’t have an available option. He also tucked the ball and ran twice when he couldn’t find a viable target, and he made sure to slide to avoid unnecessary contact on one of the runs. He even took a sack in the red zone as opposed to forcing the ball into a tight window.
“It’s something you’ve got to keep learning on the rest of your career,” Mahomes said. “If you’re young or you’re an older quarterback, you want to throw touchdowns on every single play. You have to learn when you have to throw the ball away and when you have to take the checkdown. So for me, I felt like today was a good day — just kind of taking what was there and at the same time attacking the defense.”
The lone possession for the first-team offense in the second half stalled at the Chicago 5-yard line after they’d marched 65 yards. Mahomes dropped back, started to scramble, whirled around and eventually uncorked an incomplete pass out of the back of the end zone. Mahomes started the drive with five consecutive completions and went 8-of-9 passing. The offense shot itself in the foot with a pair of penalties on the drive, including a holding penalty that wiped away a scramble by Mahomes for a first down.
The only other hiccup on offense came in the continued misfires from Mahomes and receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins, who came into the day without a catch this preseason, made one catch for 15 yards. Three of Mahomes’ six incompletions in the game were on passes intended for Watkins.
“I feel like with all the receivers and the running backs, we’re still building those relationships, building that chemistry,” Mahomes said. “I mean, we get these reps every single day. I feel like we’ve gotten better and better every single day with them, and as we keep going forward, we’re going to keep practicing and keep working in order to be ready for the regular season.”
This story was originally published August 25, 2018 at 7:04 PM.