The way quarterback Patrick Mahomes approached Chiefs’ bye week explains his success
Patrick Mahomes stepped into the Chiefs’ practice facility almost every day last week, ignoring the lack of a looming opponent on the schedule. As the Chiefs enjoyed some time off, his workload didn’t change much.
The type of work did. Rather than evaluating the intricacies and habits of a specific NFL defense, Mahomes shifted his concentration. He didn’t focus on the Oakland Raiders, or on any of the current top seeds in the AFC.
He focused on himself.
While you might anticipate a reigning NFL Most Valuable Player having little more than fine-tuning to implement, the self-evaluation fell at an opportune time. Mahomes threw for 182 yards in last week’s win against the Chargers in Mexico, the lowest total of his career.
“It was a good week to just look at how the season went — the highs, the lows — and understand what we need to do in order to be better,” Mahomes said. “You have to do that as the season goes on, but having a full week where you’re not necessarily preparing, even though you’re preparing a little bit for Oakland, you can really look at yourself and understand what you need to get better at.”
Embracing such a process offers some insight to part of what makes Mahomes successful in his craft, because such introspection often reveals answers. Mahomes settled on a primary culprit for one of his worst statistical games. Aggression. Well, over-aggression.
Even as the Chargers’ defense seemed intent on eliminating the Chiefs’ big-play ability — a strategy that got some aid with wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s first-quarter injury in the recent game at Mexico City — Mahomes couldn’t help but swing for the home run. Even if it just wasn’t there.
Mahomes completed only three passes that traveled more than 10 yards in the air. (He completed 11 one week earlier in Tennessee.) He attempted seven in Mexico, and one was intercepted.
“There was a time when I was trying to be almost too aggressive,” Mahomes said. “Trying to take shots down the field, and they were getting everybody out of there. You saw in the second half, we started taking what was there, and when the big plays came, we hit them.”
The most obvious example came late in the first quarter. On a second-down snap, Mahomes turned left before firing down the right seam to receiver Demarcus Robinson. Chargers safety Rayshawn Jenkins read the play and stepped into the passing lane for an interception. Three receivers ran deep routes on the play, but Mahomes had a quick opportunity to pick out tight end Travis Kelce at the sticks.
“You see it, and sometimes I’ve seen those looks and I try to hit those seam shots down the seam, and maybe it’s a tad late,” Mahomes said. “It turns from a touchdown to an interception — that’s how this league goes. Their defense has good players, too. They’re gonna make plays.
“So for me, you have to feel the flow of the game. I saw how our defense was playing and understood that if I could just get some points on the board, they were going to get us the win.”
Mahomes finished the game with a 72.7 passer rating, the second-worst of his career — though, to be fair, he’s set a high standard.
While some additional adjustments will materialize this week after his self-scouting, the Chiefs already enacted some in last week’s second half. They abandoned the deep routes and focused on short, quick passes. According to stats provided by Zebra Technologies, Mahomes set a career high in the percentage of his throws released in fewer than 2 1/2 seconds (63%).
That was a short-term response.
As for the long-term ...
“I think the biggest thing is just staying within myself,” Mahomes said. “Keeping my footwork where it was at the beginning of the year and not getting too wild or feet going everywhere. I think the better I am fundamentally, the better I can operate the offense.”