So it has seemed that the playcalling is off this year, no question. It has led a lot of people to speculate that Andy Reid is not making all of the calls.
I personally was not in those ranks; I didn't think there was any chance the Chiefs, who just signed a franchise QB to a half a billion dollar contract, would change up playcalling during a Super Bowl window.
But I do think the Mahomes/Bienemy spat on the sideline gave the game away (because why yell at Bienemy if you hate the playcalls?). And just so you don't think I started a thread based on only my intuition, my suspicions were echoed by extremely sharp Chiefs analysts Tod Palmer and Nick Jacobs on their "4th & 1" podcast. They don't think Reid is calling all the plays.
There is some circumstantial evidence to that. The Chiefs have been run-happier-than-usual on 2nd & longs for much of the season.
We've also seen Mahomes demand plays coming in repeatedly this year, which I've suspected was a kind of angst or anxiety but I think what's happening there is Bienemy's playcalling rhythms may be slower than Reid's, with whom Pat's synced up with for years.
I think I read Mahomes' lips during the sideline spat, saying "call the fucking play" and "call it." Which could very well be a dispute over the playcalling itself, or really just the rhythm.
Either way, that may account for some wonkiness in Mahomes' play this year. [Reply]
Originally Posted by T-post Tom:
Skip Bayless says he's never seen a young QB fall as far as Mahomes has fallen. And he says Mahomes has the WORST throwing motion / mechanics / footwork in the NFL. (Yeah Skip, Pat is no Dak. :-))
Seems like a lot of people here would benefit from moving away from Skip Bayless as their primary source of sports "journalism" [Reply]
Originally Posted by Chiefspants:
Seems like a lot of people here would benefit from moving away from Skip Bayless as their primary source of sports "journalism"
I doubt anyone here uses Skip as their primary source of information. But it’s hard to resist sharing his historically bad football takes. He makes a good punching bag. I’m sure in his mind, there is no such thing as bad publicity. And I like the dancing gif. So it’s a win – win for everyone. And ty 4 your interest in my post! :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by dirk digler:
Listening to First Take today (I know I know) Ryan Clark stated an interesting stat. In the last 5 games Mahomes leads the league in off target throws with 37.
Yikes. Figured it wasn't good but didn't think he'd be league worst. [Reply]
Do we have it confirmed from anyone that EB is calling the plays? And if he is, the drop in production doesn’t bode well speaking to the next team wanting him as a new head coach.
Is it Andy scripting those first 15 and then EB takes over? Nothing confirmed? Correct? [Reply]
Originally Posted by T-post Tom:
Skip Bayless says he's never seen a young QB fall as far as Mahomes has fallen. And he says Mahomes has the WORST throwing motion / mechanics / footwork in the NFL. (Yeah Skip, Pat is no Dak. :-))
I’ve heard that same take from others in national media since yesterdays game. [Reply]
I believe that it is the playcalling more than anything else. This team has dealt with dropped passes, turnovers, and dumb penalties before. This year there is far less room for error when that happens. We can blame wind, weather, whatever, but nothing stopped this offense before. Even the first scripted plays the offense dominates. After that they come to almost a screeching halt. It happened with Dallas and with Denver. I don't believe Mahomes or Kelce or Hill has regressed. We can say lack of a solid #2 WR, but every season we had Sammy he was injured as much if not more than he was healthy and still scored almost at will. I got that defenses adjusted, but that doesn't impact this offense at the beginning of the game, only after the scripted plays. After that, moving the ball and scoring seems to get harder. [Reply]
