When you have the vision, arm strength, talent and football IQ that Patrick Mahomes has, it may seem like every play is an opportunity to wow the crowd, stun the opponents and impress your teammates with a brilliant touchdown. And to be fair, every play is an opportunity to do just that — it might not be the most prudent or effective thing to do, however, when the situation isn’t optimal.
That’s something that Mahomes himself is still learning, and after throwing his sixth interception in four games, he’s coming to see that it may be an element of his approach he should dial back. He joined Carrington Harrison on “The Drive” on 610 Sports Radio, and had this to say after Harrison asked whether or not the offense was trying to do too much.
“Yeah, I think that’s part of it. Just pressing a little bit when it comes down to it,” Mahomes said. “At the end of the day, starting with me, you can’t score on every single play and I have to realize that, and know that I’ve got to be better and not put our defense in that position. The second half, our defense was playing well, they were keeping us in that football game, and we’ve got to find ways to make the right decisions and not turn the ball over so that we can give ourselves a chance to win the football game.”
Kansas City’s defensive performance wasn’t great by any means — giving up over 400 yards and four total touchdowns typically isn’t enough to keep an offense in the game — but it’s usually a different story when the Chiefs’ offense is involved. However, two picks from Mahomes and two fumbles lost, one from Mahomes and one from Byron Pringle, were more than enough to turn this one into a relatively lopsided affair.
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Only one other time in Mahomes’ career has he thrown for as many interceptions in a four-game span, when he did so from Week 5 to Week 8 in his 2018 MVP season, and he’s chalking up this uncharacteristic display to a mix of overambition and some unfortunate defensive plays.
“I think it’s a little bit of both. The tipped pick, the guy made a great play on it. The one over the middle got tipped up in the air as well, so those things kind of happen,” Mahomes said.
“But if you look back to the Philly game, I was pressing to throw it into tight coverage when I had a guy rushing in my face, so I just kind of have to pick and choose when to take my chances and find a way to get back to where I was at and not turn the ball over while still being aggressive, and still having that mindset of we’re going to try and score as many points as we can.”
Mahomes is still having a very productive season statistically, with 1,490 yards and 17 total touchdowns opposite his seven total turnovers, but he now has his first losing record in a season. Prior to this year, his overall record from Week 1 to Week 5 was 13-2. At 2-3, he’ll look to get back on the plus side with what should be a winnable stretch of games against the Washington Football Team, Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, three bottom-10 defenses in the league so far in terms of points surrendered.
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