What’s with Mahomes? Chiefs’ QB has to re-evaluate ‘decisions I’m making’
The Chiefs are not the same. Let’s start with that.
The favorite in the AFC appears to be the team that left Arrowhead Stadium with a victory Sunday, not the one that’s made consecutive trips to the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs’ defense is playing as though it’s in the midst of learning some major schematic overhaul in what’s actually Year 3 of that system. Their offense and special teams have combined for 11 turnovers since the Chiefs last forced one.
They appear to be suddenly uncomfortable owning the weight of being the team taking everyone else’s best shot, a quality they once seemed to relish.
But on top of all that, a new impediment was unveiled in Sunday night’s 38-20 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills: the quarterback.
Patrick Mahomes has fooled us into thinking he wasn’t capable of what he delivered on Sunday — a disjointed clunker of an outing in which he spent more time correcting his receivers’ placement on the field than he did marching the offense down it.
He turned the ball over three more times — that’s six interceptions this season, already matching his 2020 total and surpassing the five he threw in all of 2019.
“It’s not something I’ve usually done in my career, but I have to re-evaluate where I’m at with decisions I’m making,” he said.
Throughout his post-game news conference Sunday night, Mahomes owned the blame for an offense not accustomed to the struggles it’s currently encountering. He’s done that before after losses. Considers it part of his leadership, a trait that undoubtedly spilled over from his coach.
But rarely has it been as true. Even after a Super Bowl loss to Tampa Bay in which he compiled a 52.3 quarterback rating — the worst of his career — few could blame him, given the offensive line’s failure to protect him.
On Sunday, on the opening drive of the game, Mahomes saw a wide-open Travis Kelce down the right sideline. But he sailed it, throwing the ball too far to even tip the hand of a sprawling Kelce. Just flat-out missed the throw.
An omen, perhaps. He would later skip some passes in the dirt and overthrow others. Mahomes attempted 54 passes in all, the most yet in a game in his career. They totaled 272 yards, the 37th most of his career.
“Just didn’t hit the guys,” he said. “Some I thought they were going to do routes certain ways. Some I just threw bad footballs, at the end of the day, so I just gotta be better.”
The interceptions have been a bit of bad luck — one pass fell through Tyreek Hill’s arms and another came off a spectacular tip from Bills defensive lineman Greg Rousseau — but there’s more at play than that. More at play than a rare off-night from a superstar quarterback, too.
On more than one occasion — take a look at his final heave of the first half, for one example — Mahomes quite clearly anticipated a receiver to be in one spot, only to see them run a route to another. The Chiefs provide their receivers with options on their routes, and Mahomes and his intended targets analyzed coverage differently. They’re seeing new blends of coverages.
That’s part of the territory of a two-time defending champion in the conference, but it’s also part of being in the NFL. Teams cheat off one another. They copy what works.
That won’t change for the Chiefs. A deep playoff run will require adjustments, because teams are clearly adjusting to them.
But asked whether that has become some sort of burden — if these difficult games can wear on him — Mahomes walked off with this: “I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want to be as prepared as possible to play in the playoffs and try to make it to the Super Bowl. If that means we’re going to get the best shot of every single team, I’m ready for the challenge.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 1:42 AM.