Patrick Mahomes Started Throwing With His Chest Again

Mahomes put caution into the wind and it could help straighten the Chiefs' season out.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ fell to the Buffalo Bills this past weekend dropping their record to 8-5. More importantly, this puts the Chiefs in a peculiar situation for the rest of the season as they now only have a one game lead on the Denver Broncos for the division lead in the AFC West. It also puts them two full games behind the Baltimore Ravens for the top seed in the AFC and a game behind the Miami Dolphins for the second seed in the AFC.

Adding on more uneasiness to the pile of woes after the loss to the Bills, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes both made loud, strong stances against the NFL Officiating in the game. I’m not here to belabor that point anymore just to point out that the vibes leaving the game with the Bills wasn’t exactly high, but what if I were to tell you that it should have been?

I’m not going to spin a loss into a good thing - it never is - but there were plenty of positives coming out of Week 14 for the Chiefs that got overshadowed by the ending of the game. The aforementioned standings when combined with the Chiefs’ very easy remaining schedule  compared to the Ravens’ and Dolphins’ difficult schedules is one. The Chiefs’ defense once again proving they can slow down an elite offense is another. The biggest one of all, however, is that Patrick Mahomes began throwing the ball with his chest once again and had arguably his best game of the season which bodes well for the stretch run.

Patrick Mahomes Peaking at the Right Time

After falling down 14-0 against the Buffalo Bills and following an Offensive Pass Interference penalty on Travis Kelce setting up a 2nd and 18 at the Chiefs 22 yard line everything seemed to change for Mahomes. It looked like a quarterback who had finally had enough of “playing the game the right way” or “playing it not to lose” and just started playing football on pure instinct rather than the whiteboard.

It started with a dart to Richie James that fell incomplete. That doesn’t sound good on the surface but it was how perfectly the ball was thrown that caught my attention. The pass had velocity, was located perfectly, and into a rather tight window making it a risky throw. The pass - of course - was dropped but from that throw on Mahomes seemed to just have a different demeanor to his play style for the rest of the game.

Creating and Anticipating Space

After countless examples of Mahomes and his receivers not being on the same page this season, he had turned into a reactionary thrower for most of the season. It’s hard to blame him for reacting that way but Mahomes having to play so safe and structured has led to its own problems for the offense. This past Sunday that went out the window as Mahomes reverted back to his normal self and started throwing with a lot more confidence than before.