I know I'll get picked to pieces on this but just some thoughts on the past few years..
Year 1 for Mahomes starting: Guy is unreal, plays fancy free without a care in the world. Throws over 5000 yards and on 3rd and short he is dropping back throwing 50 plus yard passes. Sets the NFL on fire and with the WORST defense in modern football history we make it to the AFC championship game and besides Dee Ford we win the superbowl. He plays loose even with a historically bad D we do just fine because for that one year we have perhaps one of the best years EVER by any quarterback that has ever played any year. I get he may not be first but a top 5 all time year.
Year 2 you see him get a bit more conservative and not throwing it around as much as he does year 1 but still looks like 90% of year one. He did cut down on turnovers which was good but still not quite as good overall as year 1. The defense takes a step up and plays decent. Even 90% Mahomes (of year 1) with a decent defense we win the superbowl. early signs that year was he was starting to become too conservative.
Year 3 Now we are seeing him dump the ball off all the time and not taking nearly as many shots as he did year 1 ( seemed to be cut by 60% or more) We have games that year that are way to close for comfort ( falcons game as one example) and we don't cover the spread in most games ( not that it matters but means we are just squeaking things out. One of the only games that season where Mahomes looks anything like year 1 was the Buffalo game in the playoffs and he looked like he was playing fancy free like year 1. Then in the superbowl ( I get our O line vs our D line) but he started dropping his eye quickly and not being the old Patrick we know. Like the pressure was just too much for him. But you could tell that the entire year he was off compared with year 1 and year 2.
Year 4 Look I love what he has done for us as a fan base and I'll never forget it but something is way off with Mahomes. He is starting to look like Alex Smith, he isn't keeping his eyes down the field anymore, he looks jittery, he looks shaken, etc etc. He looks like a AVERAGE QB in football. I know you can make the argument that "look at his yards" or "look at his TD's" but I could also argue "look at his turnovers" but its more of a eye test.
He does not look ANYTHING like the year 1 and year 2 QB, he just looks average. Its like his field vision and decision making has completely gone. I think at best we win 9 games but 8 games is probably realistic.
*excuses* People say he is pressing because our defense is so bad but in year 1 our defense we historically awful as well. Even with a bad defense we should of won the superbowl and it was our best team ( because of how he played) Good or bad defense if Mahomes played like he did year 1 we win virtually every game.
Teams are playing us differently, worst excuse ever, look at the QB's that EVERYONE knows throws bombs so teams play them deep like they do the chiefs..... Guess what? they continue to throw the ball deep and continue to win. Examples the Raiders, they throw deep , everyone knows it and they play it that way but they still throw deep all the time and still make the throws. Tom Brady everyone knows throws deep and he continues to and it works. Its like using that as a excuse makes it ok. Just go back to how you were in his first year, throw it around and have fun. This isn't working.
Bottom line is our team isn't great but we have enough players on offense that we can be historically great again but it all hinges on Mahomes. If he gets back to playing like he did then we are fine but if he continues to play average this team is a .500 team at best. Mahomes is the great deodorant in the NFL. but thinking of madden its like Year 1 he was a 100, year 2 he was a 95, year 3 a 85 and now he is a 75. If we now have a average QB then we are cooked boys.
Something is wrong, its one or all of these but its the money, new child, wife, crazy brother or other things but he isn't remotely the same player he once was. No matter how bad our defense plays if we get fancy free Mahomes then we win if we continue to get this version of mahomes then its over...
We have lots of problems and I get we need better or new coaches, we need better players, we need better schemes but at the end of the day we need a better Mahomes. [Reply]
It would be helpful to have some stats such as rating on 20 yard passes, inside and outside the pocket, time to throw, under pressure, etc to support your % declines. But I do agree he is not playing well right now and have been posting about it all season. I could see from game 1 that the rhythm, vision, and anticipation has not been there as consistently as we are used to and it really needs to get fixed. [Reply]
Its so weird to see people complaining about him looking like Alex Smith when looking like Alex Smith is kind of what we need right now to open up the defense. We have to get so good and quick at short stuff that defenses have no choice but to creep up. Once they do, hit them over the top. Boom offense back in business.
The problem is that Reid isn't calling quick plays designed to get the ball out if his hands quick and into a playmakers hands and/or Mahomes is too focused on the deep long developing passes and ignores the short stuff. [Reply]
He's not regressing. Maybe not the phenom he was as a rookie but there are much bigger problems around him.
It's as simple as this. Defenses are daring us to play short. Our RBs are adequate. Our WRs not named kelce are beyond bad at short and intermediate routes that don't run sideways. Defenses have found a scheme to stop that. There is no excuse to not have receivers exploiting the hell out of the open space they're giving us.
The scheme needs to do a way better job of doing that. Quick slants, screens, etc... For whatever reason we flat out aren't doing that. And the coaching staff, much as I love them, have to wake up which means maybe stop sending all our WRs deep and demand for players who are better at getting quick separation.
Beyond that, mahomes is pressing. He saw how quickly we fell behind and after one failed drive, he felt he needed to score on every drive. He probably also realizes the dink and dunk game is only leading to receivers fumbling away long drives. He needs to be better, but the much bigger problem is with his support system. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
He's not regressing. Maybe not the phenom he was as a rookie but there are much bigger problems around him.
It's as simple as this. Defenses are daring us to play short. Our RBs are adequate. Our WRs not named kelce are beyond bad at short and intermediate routes that don't run sideways. Defenses have found a scheme to stop that. There is no excuse to not have receivers exploiting the hell out of the open space they're giving us.
The scheme needs to do a way better job of doing that. Quick slants, screens, etc... For whatever reason we flat out aren't doing that. And the coaching staff, much as I love them, have to wake up which means maybe stop sending all our WRs deep and demand for players who are better at getting quick separation.
Beyond that, mahomes is pressing. He saw how quickly we fell behind and after one failed drive, he felt he needed to score on every drive. He probably also realizes the dink and dunk game is only leading to receivers fumbling away long drives. He needs to be better, but the much bigger problem is with his support system.
Mahomes is not patient enough to play the short game. Neither is Reid with Mahomes as his QB. The offense was more diverse with Hunt. It has been the Mahomes show for the last 2+ seasons. The 2 deep safeties and 4 men across forces patience and running. The issue is the D is so bad, there is no time for patience. [Reply]
I don't see it. I think he's been great this year, with exception of yesterday and vs Buffalo. He was awesome just a week ago.
Sure, it's not "bombs away" like year 1, but that has a lot more to do with the way teams are defending the Chiefs now, plus tackles that are struggling, no threat at WR #2, weaker run game, etc. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
He's not regressing. Maybe not the phenom he was as a rookie but there are much bigger problems around him.
It's as simple as this. Defenses are daring us to play short. Our RBs are adequate. Our WRs not named kelce are beyond bad at short and intermediate routes that don't run sideways. Defenses have found a scheme to stop that. There is no excuse to not have receivers exploiting the hell out of the open space they're giving us.
The scheme needs to do a way better job of doing that. Quick slants, screens, etc... For whatever reason we flat out aren't doing that. And the coaching staff, much as I love them, have to wake up which means maybe stop sending all our WRs deep and demand for players who are better at getting quick separation.
Beyond that, mahomes is pressing. He saw how quickly we fell behind and after one failed drive, he felt he needed to score on every drive. He probably also realizes the dink and dunk game is only leading to receivers fumbling away long drives. He needs to be better, but the much bigger problem is with his support system.
Yeah he's absolutely pressing. He wants a home run every play. It's why instead of sliding on that nice run he decided to go for more and ended up fumbling. Just get the first down and slide when you're out of real estate. Pretty simple stuff. He's just gotta go about business with a smarter approach. Keep the chains moving and don't turn it over. The big plays will come. [Reply]
I would contend he is keeping his eyes downfield too much and not being enough like Smith and hitting the check downs or over the middle\intermediate passes, until it's too late. [Reply]