NFL pundits share concerns about ‘disjointed’ Chiefs offense, ‘broken’ Patrick Mahomes
You may have heard the phrase “everyone loves a mystery,” but this is one puzzle Chiefs fans are not having fun trying to solve.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 69% of his throws and had 18 touchdown passes in the Chiefs’ first six games. But he has just two TD passes in the last three games, completing 57.5% of his throws.
Early in the season, Mahomes looked like the quarterback who took the NFL by storm in 2018, only with more turnovers.
Now Mahomes appears to have lost his mojo, and the reasons for his struggles have baffled NFL media members. It’s been one of the biggest stories in the league following the Chiefs’ 13-7 win over the Packers.
Here is a sample of what is being said.
Jeff Chadiha of NFL Media wrote about where the league stands heading into Week 10 and included a segment with this headline, “The Patrick Mahomes slump is real.”
Here is an excerpt: “There have been so many issues with the Chiefs’ offense — from shaky offensive tackles to defenses containing Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to a league-high 19 turnovers — that it’s been easy to assume this unit has been dragging Mahomes down. That isn’t the case anymore. He’s literally playing the worst football of his career. He’s missing open receivers, failing to take opportunities for checkdowns when they arise and, most importantly, looking as joyless as he’s ever appeared on a football field at this level. The Chiefs have been good enough to survive lately with him slumping. The reality is, they aren’t going to beat the best teams in the league unless their quarterback starts performing at a high level again.”
Former Packers tight end Greg Jennings said on Fox Sports’ “First Things First” that the Chiefs’ greatest asset (Mahomes) has become their greatest weakness.
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin gave the Chiefs a C-minus for the victory on Sunday. He wrote, in part: “(L)et’s face it: this was another very ugly showing for a team that’s supposed to be routing clubs en route to a deep playoff run. Patrick Mahomes deserves credit for not turning it over this time around (?), but he was erratic once more despite trying aggressively to stay conservative. Good for them stacking victories, but big-picture-wise, they’ve not improved much.”
ESPN’s Ryan Clark said Mahomes is “broken” during Monday’s edition of “Get Up.”
Mahomes was on top of the “Worry List” put together by The Athletic’s Jake Ciely.
This is from his story: “In the past three weeks, only Sam Darnold and Trevor Lawrence had a lower YD/ATT than Mahomes’ 5.4 mark, and he’s just middle of the pack at 7.6 Air/ATT. Mahomes also has the fifth-lowest Comp% (57.5). He’s not connecting often, and when he does, Mahomes is a check-down champion. While we can blame the offensive line some, it appears the NFL has figured out to keep everything in front of them by playing heavy Cover-2, as Mahomes doesn’t trust anyone but Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill (rightfully so, given the play of the rest). It’s turned Mahomes into a mediocre dink-and-dunk quarterback, as his forced throws to Kelce/Hill are failing.”
Kevin Patra of NFL.com shared his thoughts on every game from Sunday.
This is part of what he wrote about the Chiefs: “Once again, Patrick Mahomes and the offense struggled to generate big plays, but did enough to eke out a victory. The K.C. offense generated just 237 total yards on 63 plays, averaging a measly 3.8 yards per play. Mahomes had an inefficient night, completing just 20 of 37 passes for 166 yards and one TD while earning 4.5 yards per attempt. The former MVP QB couldn’t find the long-range all game, going 0 for 5 on deep passes. After scoring an opening-drive TD that went 64 net yards with six first downs, the Chiefs scored just two field goals, earned eight additional first downs and went three-and-out four times. Early in the season, the Chiefs moved the ball but were sabotaged by turnovers. On Sunday, they didn’t turn it over, but the disjointed offense couldn’t generate first downs.”
Former Chiefs running back LeSean McCoy was on “Good Morning Football” and said Kansas City is pressing.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
