Chiefs’ Mahomes shows his patient side
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Patrick Mahomes was fuming.
Kansas City’s offense stumbled out of the gates of their playoff opener against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. They punted on three of their first four possessions, and a tipped pass led to an interception on the other.
The ineptitude prompted a desperation call by Chiefs’ coaches who dialed up a gimmick Wildcat play, which backfired as a fumbled handoff from wide receiver Mecole Hardman to running back Darrel Williams led to a 26-yard touchdown return by the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, placing the Chiefs in a second-quarter deficit. Not at all how the Chiefs had drawn things up.
“We were all pissed off at ourselves,” Mahomes explained. “We felt we weren’t playing with enough energy, enough urgency.”
The quarterback used the anger as fuel, however, and delivered a blistering second- and third-quarter eruption that carried the Chiefs to a 42-21 wild card victory.
With five touchdown passes and 404 passing yards, Mahomes electrified his Chiefs, who now advance to next week’s AFC divisional round of the NFL playoffs, where they will host the Buffalo Bills.
As he did, the quarterback restored the Chiefs’ standing as one of the most dangerous squads in the postseason while affirming that despite a less dazzling regular season, he remains one of the most dangerous players and the league and Kansas City’s greatest hope for Super Bowl glory.
“He’s a tremendous leader,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of his quarterback. “There is a calm to him. When somebody’s hanging their head or moping around, that’s never a positive thing, especially in a leadership position and he never goes that way.”
The 2021 regular season – Mahomes’ fifth, and his fourth as a starter – repre
sented a year of growing pains for the quarterback and his offense.
Growing pains for a player already regarded as one of the best at his position, and whose mantle already includes a Super Bowl trophy and MVP award before his 27th birthday?
Indeed.
You see, although Mahomes for his first three seasons as a starter seemingly held the cheat code, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 55 showed the blueprint for humanizing the young star. They took away his home run threat by playing their safeties deep and sending waves of pass-rushers. Mahomes and the Chiefs failed to adapt and lost in their repeat bid.
Other defensive coordinators took note, and this season attacked Mahomes similarly. They forced the ultra-aggressive passer to play a different brand of football. A more patient and disciplined brand.
Initially, this proved easier said than done, because although Mahomes spoke early this season of his need to “take what the defense gives me,” he racked up nine interceptions in the first seven games of 2021 after having thrown only 11 in his two previous seasons combined.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, opened the
year with a 3-4 record – unheard of in Reid’s nine seasons as coach.
As the season continued to unfold, and as Kansas City found itself in the unfamiliar position of trailing in the AFC West, Mahomes gradually grasped the messages preached to him by Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who cautioned that check-down throws that moved the offensive along at a more methodical pace were much better than the high-reward/high-risk downfield throws that the quarterback was forcing – while too often having intercepted.
Little by little, Mahomes began understanding how to chip away at defenses. His yards per attempt dropped from his career average of 8.3 from the four previous seasons to 7.4 in 2021. But Chiefs’ offense began operating with greater efficiency as their season turned around to the tune of a 9-1 finish, another divisional title and the second seed in the AFC.
So, when the Steelers again challenged Mahomes to beat them methodically, the quarterback accepted.
After that failed Wildcat play, Mahomes reclaimed his spot under center and attacked the Steelers with a barrage of screens and play-action passes. The Chiefs’ offense roared to life. First came an eight-play 76-yard scoring drive – a series which also saw Mahomes scramble 23 yards after he recognized the defense in man coverage and not accounting for him – that put the Chiefs on the board with a four-yard Mahomes-to-Jeric McKinnon toss.
The second quarter ended with Mahomes having completed 11 of 13 passes while tossing two more touchdown passes to give his team a 21-7 lead.
And the lead only ballooned in the third quarter as Mahomes racked up his fourth and fifth touchdown pass of the night.
Initially, the drives featured those short, crisp plays, but as the game wore on, and the Steelers’ defenders wore down, big plays returned as Mahomes’ third and fifth touchdown passes went for 48 and 31 yards respectively.
When it was all said and done, the Chiefs had outgained the Steelers 478257 while matching their second-highest scoring output of the season.
“It’s a blast coming into work every single day with the guy,” tight end Travis Kelce, who had both a touchdown catch and touchdown pass, said of Mahomes. “He’s the ultimate competitor, the guy you want to put the ball in his hands in the beginning and when it counts. He goes about it being a pro and that’s where he takes the game to the next level because he’s always trying to learn defenses and give the offense an upper hand and that’s what makes this offense go.”
Echoing Kelce’s praise, Reid said, “Patrick had a tremendous night tonight and it didn’t start off perfect. The thing that’s so great is he doesn’t let things get to him. He gets firing, and he leads. He’s got an innate ability to lead other guys and they’re willing to listen to him and he ends up with these plays that are lucky and great to see.”
The Chiefs will need the same blend of efficiency and proliferation next Sunday as they host a Buffalo team that also opened the playoffs with a blowout victory that saw them top the 40-point mark. It’s also a Buffalo team that handed Kansas City an embarrassing 38-20 home loss in Week 5.