Mahomes continues to progress with time
KANSAS CITY, MO. » The regression was almost inevitable after Patrick Mahomes put up recordsetting numbers during his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs’ starting quarterback, highlighted by nearly 5,100 yards passing and 50 touchdown throws.
At least, a regression in raw statistics.
Much to the chagrin of fantasy football fans, though, games are not won and lost purely on numbers. And there are plenty of reasons to believe that Mahomes has actually progressed since his second year in the league, and taken an especially big jump since last season, when he merely led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl championship in five decades.
He’s making better decisions, throwing just one interception through their first six games. He is trusting his instincts rather than his arm, running for a bunch of first downs when his wide receivers are covered. And he’s shown the maturity needed to check down to secondary targets when the big, downfield throws to Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce that had been the early hallmark of his career are taken away by defenses playing well off the line of scrimmage.
“You look at the quarterback rating and that, it’s always high for him. He’s doing a great job there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said this week, “and I’m really proud of the progress he’s made in so many areas. I don’t think he worries about all that. He is OK if the run game works. I’m sure he’ll end up with numbers — that takes place — and it helps us win games.
“I would just tell you he just keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll be fine. He has a great attitude about it.”
That was never more evident than last Monday night in Buffalo, when the Chiefs ran the ball 46 times, the most since Reid arrived in Kansas City prior to the 2013 season. Naturally, that limited Mahomes to just 26 pass attempts and 225 yards, yet he was perhaps the most ebullient player in the locker room when the Chiefs finished off their 26- 17 victory.
“It seems like every year we’re getting a new scheme or a new way defenses are going about playing us,” Mahomes said. “I think for us, it’s about being patient. Be patient with the run game. Be patient with the short pass game. If we do these 10- or 12- play drives and we’re still scoring touchdowns, that’s OK with us.”