Patrick Mahomes, Tyrann Mathieu share these important traits as leaders of the Chiefs
The sentiments sound familiar coming from a coach on a team infused with and widely known for the ingenuity of Patrick Mahomes. Sometimes when he watches him apply that on the field, the coach says, his mind goes rapidly from “What is he doing?!” to “Oh, great job!”
But he still gives this star player free rein. Because he knows this player “feels the game,” and that even when he might not be doing it “exactly the way you drew it up … he has a feel and a keen instinct.”
The coach, though, is defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. And he wasn’t talking about Mahomes, but safety Tyrann Mathieu — a so-called quarterback of the defense who has emerged as Mahomes’ defensive counterpart in so many ways, bolstering a once-rudderless defensive backfield to revitalize the broader weak link that was the defense.
The influence is so similar to Mahomes’ that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid all but suggested this story idea in an interview with The Star a few weeks ago, bringing up the parallel without being asked about it and saying how much Mahomes and Mathieu trust each other on the other side of the ball.
How “they play off each other well.”
When I asked Reid to elaborate on that earlier this week, as the Chiefs prepared to play host to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game Sunday, Reid began by saying despite their different backgrounds they have “very similar personalities.”
“Their ability to lead men is common. They have an easy way about them where they can analyze a situation and come to the players with clarity on it,” he said. “Good communication skills. I think both of them love to play.”
After Reid riffed briefly on Mathieu’s “Honey Badger” nickname, saying that when they “unlock the cage, he makes all of these funny noises, comes out and plays his tail off,” he added, “Like Patrick, he studies like crazy to make sure that he gets everything down. He’s got those instincts.”
‘Comfortable in their own skin’
Those instincts say something more about both of them, something we can all see, from how people follow them and their body language on the field and that Reid alluded to, as well.
“I think that common denominator is that leadership and feeling comfortable in their own skin,” he said. “They’re not afraid to step out. They’re not worried about what anybody else thinks or says or does. They know right from wrong. However they got to that point, they know that. They’re able to communicate that and make sure that the locker room is right.”
Like Mahomes, Mathieu has a radiant persona that broadcasts to everyone in range, including on the field and across that locker room — just like Spagnuolo had heard tell when the Chiefs were considering signing him last offseason: “He changed the building the minute he walked through the door,” Spagnuolo recently recalled a friend who had worked with Mathieu saying.
As such, he’s become a transformational force in the previously besieged identity of his side of the ball, someone whose spirit and smarts and work ethic gives him an uncanny sense of connection with teammates and, yes, Spagnuolo.
To be sure, it’s no perfect parallel. Mahomes is the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player and has become the face of the league, a lofty stature of its own. Each has his own unique appeal. And contrary to the dynamics between Reid and Mahomes, who now are at such a mind-melding stage as to be able to complete each other’s sentences, Spagnuolo at times says he’s not sure what Mathieu is thinking.
But like Reid trusts Mahomes with the offense, occasional intuitive ad-libs and all, Spagnuolo sees Mathieu as a focal point and conduit to his defense. If he needs to convey a message, Spagnuolo is apt to turn to Mathieu and say, “Can you steer them a little bit this way?”
For that matter, some steering seems to come from the same form of virtual telepathy you see on the offensive side of the ball, the sort that comes with the trust cultivated through the grind together in pursuit of a singular cause.
By now, perhaps you’ve seen the clip from Inside the NFL of Travis Kelce approaching Mahomes on the sideline last week.
Kelce: “I don’t understand how you know what I’m doing.”
Mahomes: “I knew you were going to turn.”
Kelce: “There is nothing telling you I was going to do that, and the ball was in the air before I did it.”
Mahomes: “That’s what I wanted you to do.”
Asked about that exchange Friday, Kelce said, “It’s just a testament to this team’s chemistry. It’s not just me and him. It’s everybody.”
Playing off one another
By way of example related to Mathieu, linebacker Anthony Hitchens thought of a recent moment in practice. In pass coverage, his assignment went into the flat. Mathieu picked him up, and Hitchens simply adjusted mid-play and took Mathieu’s man.
“Now we’re kind of playing off of each other,” Hitchens said.
A familiar concept to his offensive counterpart, who appreciates Mathieu’s complementary impact.
“He’s a natural-born leader. That’s just who he is. He doesn’t have to do anything other than be himself,” said Mahomes, who also takes pride in trying to energize the team. “He goes out there every single day, and just by his attitude and mindset, he’s leading other guys.
“I think that’s huge when you have guys like that around the team. Obviously, his play speaks for itself, but the way he’s able to every day just be great, it really does help spread it throughout the team.”
Asked to expand on what he meant by Mathieu just being himself, Mahomes smiled and added, “You all see how he acts, how energized and how he goes as hard as he can in every single play. That’s the same stuff in practice. It’s fun to watch, and at the same time it inspires you every single day and every single play. That’s the type of guy that he is.”
Different positions and backgrounds and characteristics notwithstanding, in many ways a lot like Mahomes could see in a mirror.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 5:00 AM.