On Wednesday afternoon during his weekly chat with the local media, Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes reiterated what he said after Sunday Night’s 23-20 victory over the New York Jets, he needs to play better. After throwing two more interceptions on the season, the Quarterback puts the failure of the Chiefs passing game squarely on his shoulders.
If you’re Patrick Mahomes, you constantly have pressure on the field and off. Within the Chiefs Kingdom, Mahomes and the Chiefs have become the most popular team in the NFL. No that’s not because of the attention, Taylor Swift has brought to this successful franchise, they come to see Mahomes work his magic.
As we discussed, Mahomes didn’t have much work Sunday night after the first quarter. He threw two more interceptions, and on numerous occasions passed up open receivers not named, Travis Kelce. That split-second hesitation in those instances forced Mahomes into some predictable patterns where he either forced a pass or used his legs to gain yards.
Mahomes did the same thing with Tyreek Hill, but in the game versus the Jets, he generally plays with the utmost confidence. Now the two turnovers were bad, and if you consider each was about 5-10 yards off the intended location of his receiver, Kelce, both passes resulted in giving the Jets great field position.
After the game, and again on Wednesday, he took the blame and insisted the receivers would be just fine if he did a better job as the Chiefs quarterback. For a guy who has two MVP Titles, two Super Bowl Rings, and has won the AFC West five years, played in five straight AFC title games in Kansas City, you’d think he’d lighten up on himself just a bit.
But that’s not how he is wired.
“I just got to put us in better positions and making better decisions so the guys could go out there and work for me and make plays down the field,” Mahomes said on Wednesday.
“I faded away from the throw instead of just stepping into it and making the throw. So, that’s just myself just going back to the fundamentals and stuff is when it’s not necessarily coming out of your hand the best way, you have to go back to your fundamentals and get that stuff down before you can try the side arms and the fadeaway throws and the stuff like that.”
Mahomes has always held himself accountable in every situation on the field especially when he fails to make throws, he’s done a thousand times before. His Head Coach, Andy Reid, insists the failed offensive snaps are on his hands. It’s admirable to support your quarterback, but turnovers are game-changers. In the case of Sunday night, both gave the Jets life when they were lifeless after one quarter.
In watching Mahomes body language today talking to the media, he seemed perturbed and annoyed he’s still talking about the miscues of the offense. Considering the Chiefs scored the game’s first 17 points, they probably thought this game was over, and they would cruise to an easy win. However, the NFL Gods thought otherwise.
There’s no doubt Mahomes will fix the ails of the offense. He’ll keep working, studying tape to improve on the mistakes and get his young wide receivers to progress within the system. Though the receivers have struggled much of the year, bright spots have been seen.
Mahomes simply must reduce his mistakes so the receivers can do their thing after the catch. Thankfully when the arm fails, his legs can bail him out of trouble. Yet, there is talent in the receiver’s room that he needs to bring out.
It’s far too early to panic because the Chiefs were at the same point last year when they were trying to incorporate, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdez-Scantlin into the offense. They each had break-out games against the San Francisco 49ers which occurred in week seven.
On Sunday the Chiefs will be playing game five, and with the Chargers and Broncos twice after the Vikings game in Minnesota this weekend, this team has enough time to fix their misfires offensively. Still, we are talking about Patrick Mahomes who always finds a path to victory even if it’s not pretty.
For the fan base though, they’d like to see the Mahomes that destroyed the Bears 41-10 versus the one that barely defeated the Jets 23-20.
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