The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the NFL’s five remaining unbeaten teams. And yet, for the second year in a row, Andy Reid’s vaunted offense doesn’t appear to be the juggernaut it once was. Entering Week 4, the reigning Super Bowl champions are squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of yards per game (14th), passing yards per attempt (18th) and passer rating (17th).
There are multiple culprits: Injuries (e.g. running back Isiah Pacheco), personnel shuffles at left tackle, maybe even an aging, slowing Travis Kelce. How about the two-time MVP quarterback, Patrick Mahomes?
The only stat that matters in the end is the team record, and the Chiefs are 3-0, looking for their third straight title. But SportsLine’s Stephen Oh believes Kansas City would have an exponentially larger chance at going the distance (again) if it weren’t for Mahomes’ clear statistical dip over the last year.
While Mahomes is completing passes at a top-10 clip (69.6%) right now, he’s now gone 16 straight games without a three-touchdown game through the air. The last time he achieved that mark: Oct. 22, 2023, during last year’s Week 7 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Throwing three scores doesn’t always equate to victory, but consider that from 2018 to 2022, Mahomes averaged 2.43 pass touchdowns per game (regular season), plus 2.5 per game in 14 playoff games. Since the start of the 2023 season, the perennial Pro Bowler is averaging just 1.65 passing scores per game.
Already with four interceptions in three games this year, Mahomes has actually stayed fairly steady in terms of turnovers through the air; he’s thrown double-digit picks in four of his past six seasons, which speaks to his knack for hunting improbable plays. The issue is, he’s not matching the touchdown production to offset it, as he did in his peak MVP-contending years of 2018-2022.
If that Mahomes were currently under center, improving the Chiefs’…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/is-chiefs-patrick-mahomes-a-high-end-game-manager-now-why-kansas-city-should-be-worried-or-not/
Author : Cody Benjamin
Publish date : 2024-09-26 15:55:24
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