We’ve reached the midseason mark, and one thing is sure, Mahomes is not himself, or at least not the usual Mahomes we were used to.
These past few years, teams were organized around a franchise quarterback and had success. We had Mahomes in Kansas City, Lamar Jackson in Baltimore, and Deshaun Watson in Houston. Defenses are finally catching up with some of the best talents.
This season, something very unusual happened for the Kansas City Chiefs. The offense has not been very effective, despite a talented young quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, one of the best tight ends, and Tyreek Hill, one of the fastest players in the league.
On paper, the offense should be unbeatable, but that is not the case. The Patrick Mahomes slump is real! He is just off! Plenty of crazy theories have blossomed these past few weeks: some say he is distracted by his new family life and father figure, others say he has done too many commercials and thus he is not focused on football, others say he is not motivated anymore given the huge contract he already has…
Well, whatever the reason, there could be some concerns about this season for the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s thrown two touchdown passes and two interceptions in his last three games. He’s averaged 215.7 passing yards in those contests and accounted for all of 166 passing yards in Sunday’s 13-7 win over Green Bay.
Overall, the Chiefs have scored just 36 points in their last three outings. Well, over three games, Kansas City has won two of them, however, they won against Daniel Jones and Jordan Love, talented quarterbacks, but not elite just yet. And let’s be honest, Patrick Mahomes is literally playing the worst football of his career. He’s missing open receivers, he is fumbling more often, and above all, he just looks miserable, as if he does not find any joy in playing football anymore.
The only upside is Mahomes is smart. He is an intelligent dedicated kid who is still gifted. He will figure it out. All great quarterbacks have had slumps in their career, it is just the rules of the game, teams will work to block the quarterbacks, and counter-strategies will get in place!
The penultimate play against the Packers was Mahomes throwing on the run to a leaping Hill, who hauled in the pass to move the sticks on the third-down attempt. After the completion, the broadcast cameras caught Mahomes with a vintage fist pump and yell.
“It was a battle all day long,” Mahomes said. “All day it felt like that, then at the end of the day when we had a chance to really win it, I kind of let that out; that frustration. I’d rather be walking away with a win than a lot of yards.”
The final drive could build momentum and confidence for a struggling offense. That is what the whole Kingdom is hoping for.
With eight games left and a 5-4 record, the Chiefs can still do something to save this season. However, this will be happening only if the offense can find its usual efficiency.
“I’m still extremely confident,” said Mahomes. “I know we’re going to find it as an offense. We have too many good players; we have too special of coaches to not find it. The offensive line has been playing really good football these past few weeks, and as they come together, it’s going to keep that offense going. I expect us to start making plays here soon.”
Let’s wait and see. We often say that championships will be won with great defenses. However, no matter how great the defense and special teams are, it is necessary to get back into an offensive rhythm. They need to play better or it will not be enough to beat the top teams in the playoffs.
