Chiefs fans bash Pro Football Focus’ Patrick Mahomes grade. Here’s what PFF says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- PFF grades execution per play; Mahomes’ two turnover-worthy throws reduced his score.
- Collinsworth cites 160 data points as basis for granular ratings.
- Coaches, fans and PFF clash over context, assignments and transparency of grades.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in the Chiefs’ 31-0 win over the Raiders.
Las Vegas’ Geno Smith was pulled from Sunday’s game after completing 10 of 16 passes for 67 yards.
Guess which quarterback received a higher passer rating from Pro Football Focus. It was Smith, and if you’re surprised, you’re not alone.
Chiefs fans didn’t hold back in criticizing Pro Football Focus for its ratings. This is but a small sample of what was being said this week.
Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema explained Mahomes’ grade during a video breakdown of the ratings in the Chiefs-Raiders game.
“The grades are about assessing the execution that a player has given the context on a single play,” Sikkema said. “And Mahomes obviously was better in this game, in the production and the results side of things. But Mahomes also had two turnover-worthy plays, which we don’t forget. I think a lot of people forget about those when they aren’t actually caught. But you go back and you look at the two, what should have been interceptions, the dropped interceptions in this game. I mean, they are poor throws by Mahomes. One of them, the first one, I mean, that would have been a pick-six.
“I think some people kind of look at the grades, and they wonder how could we get to this point? It’s because we’re grading the execution of how a player is playing on a single play for an entire game. And so everything counts.”
Sikkema said most of the Mahomes’ passing yards came after the catch, which works against Mahomes. And Sikkema added that every player begins with a 60 grade.
“This isn’t grades that you got in school where a 60 is a D-minus and nearly a failing grade,” he said.
Spags on PFF grades
Days after the Chiefs’ 22-9 win over the Giants last month, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was asked about a poor grade given to defensive lineman Chris Jones.
“What grades are you using?” Spagnuolo asked in response.
It was PFF, and Spagnuolo mentioned NBC Sports analyst Cris Collinsworth, who is CEO of Pro Football Focus.
“That’s what everybody uses,” Spagnuolo said matter-of-factly. “Cris Collinsworth, I think he’s a good dude and he’s involved in that company. I just, I don’t know how you grade, put a grade on somebody when you don’t know actually what their assignment was, or what they were being told.”
How PFF rankings are determined
Collinsworth was interviewed on the “Up & Adams Show” last week and was asked about if PFF was justified in Mahomes not being ranked in the top 10 among NFL quarterbacks.
“According to this year’s statistics,” Collinsworth said. “And let’s face it, he had a pick-six for 99 yards that cost them a game (at Jacksonville). So there are players that have played better over the first five games of the season. ...
“So based on just those five games, is Patrick Mahomes where he should be? I would argue, yes. We can debate it. We can talk about it as we go. But it has been big mistakes (that have hurt Mahomes’ rating).”
Collinsworth also addressed Spagnuolo’s comments.
“Chris Jones had a bad grade the other day, and in part, they went out and Spags kind of got on a press conference, and they asked him about Chris Jones’ grade. And, you know, he sort of laughed it off and did this thing,” Collinsworth said.
Collinsworth has invited coaches to come look at how PFF determines its ratings. He said some have taken him up on the offer, and at least two have wanted to invest in the company after what they saw.
Later in the conversation, Collinsworth pulled back the veil a bit on how the ratings are determined.
“Patrick Mahomes, if he makes a bad run, that’s as big a negative as it is if he throws an interception,” Collinsworth said. “So you’re trying to put everything into one grade. So what we’re talking about doing, which I think would really be exciting, is to cut those slivers even more. We have 160 data points on every play for every player.
“So we’re talking about: Who’s the best tackling defensive back in the NFL? Who’s the best run stopper in the NFL? Who’s the best in pass breakups in the NFL? Who’s the best at playing the ball in the air? We have all that data, it’s just a matter of how much work and how many more millions of dollars am I willing to spend to break it down. Everybody else has their system. I have my system. We probably have 600 people working for us on this system.”
That system, however, won’t be one Chiefs fans will embrace anytime soon.
