Film Study: What’s going on with Patrick Mahomes? | Kansas City Chiefs Vs New York Giants

Film Study: What’s going on with Patrick Mahomes? | Kansas City Chiefs Vs New York Giants

All right, let’s talk Momes here. You know, uh, offense hasn’t been rolling. Now, it did ultimately finally get its act together in the second half of this game. So, we’ll talked about kind of what what switched, what what ultimately went right. But, I still think it’s fair to say this was not the offensive performance you wanted when you set out uh to play against a team that gave up a million points last week to Dallas. Let’s talk about what went wrong. And and the receivers are a big part of this, right? You see this, it’s a one-on-one matchup on this play. They’re going to try and hit Hollywood Brown, who again has done some nice things in the league. This is a pure one-on-one matchup. Third and 10, obvious passing situation. Okay. Well, let’s see what they can do. You know, the Chiefs used to be elite in these obvious passing situations. Mahomes is going to take the snap and looks over is going to fire here towards uh you know, Maris Brown, Hollywood Brown, whatever you want to call him. There’s not much separation, but like it’s it’s a route that can work. You know, again, this team just isn’t getting separation. So, you kind of just have to try and make a play work. And this throw, well, a catchable ball. It’s a competitive ball, but, you know, good play by the defensive back. Let’s give give him some credit here. But ultimately, I mean, that was covered covered from the jump. Uh, it was Andrew Phillips who made the play. Give give him some love. But ultimately, not not just you’re not getting guys open, you’re not being able to make the play. It’s hard for an offense to operate when this is happening. Like there was also this one where Mahomes going to hit Ju Guu Smith Schustster who’s still getting you know a ton of meaningful snaps. I don’t hate him as a depth player but you know probably get having to be more than a depth player. He could have made that catch. Wasn’t quite able to. Wasn’t the best throw for Mahomes either. That that’s totally fair to say. And then some like miscommunications going on. So first you have uh this one where it’s going to be Mahomes going to try and hit Taekwon Thornton. Watch how they are going to you know take the snap. Runs this play action. play works and Mahomes is trying to get this ball to Taekquin Thornton in a hurry. The issue is it’s too quickly for Thornton. He doesn’t have his head turned around. Mahomes, you know, hits a spot and Thornton just again was a little late in getting his head turned around. That was a big catch if they were on the same page. And you even saw Mahomes kind of did the Aaron Rogers and and made it clear uh right after, hey, you got to run that route better. He was he was motioning. He was saying you got, you know, you got to get your head turned around. So that was third and one. They weren’t able to to convert there. but also this which is just weird and this has been happening with Kelsey and Mahomes and I don’t understand why uh is Kelsey spending too much time with Taylor Swift. Okay, I’m not going to speculate on their personal lives but uh I mean this is the thing that’s happening. Mahomes takes the snap. You see Kelsey’s going to run this route. He turns around. He’s he’s open right here for a checkdown. It’s nothing crazy, but like hey there’s some yards here. Can’t go broke making a profit, right? And hey, Kelsey with the ball in his hands. Tough to bring down. But watch how Kelsey just keeps drifting towards the middle of the field. Whereas Mahomes looked elsewhere and then looked back to throw it to to Kelsey. And by the time he got back to Kelsey, Kelsey had moved a little bit. I know it just looks, you know, on on film, it just looks like he just missed the throw, but that’s a that’s a communication thing. Like these guys aren’t on the same page. And how are they not on the same page? They’re known for having like this great chemistry. Well, this season, they don’t have it. Going over to play like this, so much of Mahomes’s game right now is scrambling. and even on this play. So, it’s a a quarters coverage concept, which means you have three players over the middle of the field. Uh, and why do you run this concept if you’re the Giants? Well, because you have 11 guys watching Mahomes, it’s third and 12. You know, he can scramble. This is a way you can do that. Watch how when Mahomes takes the snap, he’s going to look right here and, you know, navigating the pocket. One underrated aspect of Mahomes’s scrambling that I think doesn’t get talked about like ever, not even enough ever, is Creed Humphrey, the center. He does such a good job on these double team blocks and pass protection that it often gives Mahomes a running lane to go forward if he wants to. Mahomes elects to do that. He’s going to run and he’s going to manage to pick up this first down again with the, you know, quarters coverage. Even if everyone’s watching Mahomes only three players over the middle, he can find a way to get a gap and he picks up the first down except there was a flag on the offense. It’s Jawan Taylor uh you know not being properly set which you know uh it was I believe it was him being too far behind the center which is a thing that he always does. Going over here, Taylor had a rough day uh at the office. Um you see one-on-one matchup right here. Watch as Brian Burns just runs him over. Uh Mahomes has to throw that one quickly. They’re not able to, you know, still was almost a completion but uh not able to get the first down on third down. So again, that’s an issue. Uh the blocking I actually don’t think it’s quite as bad as last year, but I mean it’s honestly pretty similar, just different, right? Cuz they had such a left tackle issue last year. Now that’s been better with Josh Simmons, but it’s still not great cuz he’s a rookie learning and getting better. Then you have Kingsley Sumata who’s been kind of not great at guard and then John Jawan Taylor who isn’t great at right tackle. So now they’re down to only three good players with the loss of Joe Thun. So that’s an issue as well. Now again, something like this, like you do, I mean, the athleticism of M Holmes and his ability to move is still such an asset for this offense. Watch as he’s going to take the snap. And I don’t know how he does this, but you see he’s moving forward because there was start to be pressure off the edge, but now there’s a defensive lineman kind of right in his face. What does he do? Well, watch him just kind of have a little stutter step. He jukes out that lineman, gets outside the pocket, and keeps his eyes downfield. Finds Guju Smith Schustster. Again, this is this is a ridiculously good play from Mahomes. And we’re seeing those types of ridiculously good plays. We are we also like it’s fair to say are seeing some not great plays from Mahomes. In fact, we’re sometimes we’re seeing them both on the same play. So, like heading over here, um this was a you know, a play that was much talked about when it happened. Um watch Pacheco cuz that’s a thing we have to bring up is, you know, the running game hasn’t been great. Part of that is, you know, the loss of Joe Thun. Part of that is the uh you know the running backs aren’t aren’t spectacular. And honestly, it’s been okay when they’ve done it. They just kind of have gone away from it. But uh anyway, besides the point, watch Pacheco on this play. You see, he’s going to chip Brian Burns and kind of gets bumped to the point where he turns the wrong way. He turns back towards the end zone, which is not how you want your hips turned. And I don’t know exactly why he does this. I’m assuming it was just he was trying to block uh Burns. Eventually ends up here. You know, I get why this thing can go wrong. Mahomes throws it to where, you know, he’s expecting it. But honestly, even if Pachecho was facing that way, I think the throw was just too hot and too outside. I don’t think PCO catches it either way. Mahomes somehow finds a way to rip the ball out of a linebacker’s hands and keep it for himself. Great job by him. But like, you know, cuz that was a touchdown waiting to happen. So, that’s the great part of the play. But also, like, I mean, you know, you can’t be doing this. You can’t be throwing the ball on the ground. And in fact, he did that another time earlier in the game as well. So that’s those are two turnover worthy plays, right? That that’s a mistake waiting to happen. And heading over here, that’s another there was another turnover worthy play. Um this one you have a it’s a cover three zone that the Giants are in and you have a a deep shot. And you know, usually this works is the deep shot is designed to take the safety away. Safety has to go deep. It opens up stuff over the middle. If the safety doesn’t stay deep, then what you do is well, you throw a deep, right? Mahomes takes a snap. This is going to once again be Taekquin Thornton running the route cuz that’s that’s what he does. He’s very fast receiver and honestly if Mahomes pushes this down the field, it feels like there’s a touchdown opportunity on this play. Um and there’s really no other way to get around this. This is just not a great throw. Watch that. Really probably should have been picked off. And listen, he was under pressure. He’s throwing at his own 25 yard line trying to get all the way to the opponent’s 30 yard, you know, probably really honestly ideally trying to get to the opponent’s 20 yard line. Um, that’s a difficult throw, but also like you’re the one making that decision. And for Mahomes, he’s known for being like, at least in his heyday, was known for being the best downfield passer of all time. I think it’s okay to be critical of him. You know, if uh if Mitchell Tasley couldn’t make this throw, okay, whatever. I don’t expect it from him. I do expect it from Mahomes, and he didn’t give it there. Although, he did follow it up with this play, which was just absurd. So, again, tie game. 23 seconds left. Mahomes is going to take the snap. A lot of stuff to break down. just uh again talk not even really X’s and O’s, but just what he’s able to do. Good protection, but eventually it breaks down. There is going to be pressure. First, he’s going to outrun a defensive tackle. Okay, that’s a defensive tackle. Well, now you got uh not just any offball linebacker. You have Abdul Carter who is, you know, this uh elite uh athlete, you know, edge rusher who was playing offball linebacker just kind of due to uh they have Brian Burns and Kavon Tibido trying to figure out how to use everybody. But watch Mahomes get around him as well. Oh, he’s so difficult to bring down. Everyone likes to say, “Oh, it’s cuz everyone’s afraid to hit him.” And listen, there is some of that, but like some of it is just he’s impossible to bring down. He decides to throw it down the field. And this is just a pure jump ball. It’s an arm punt basically on first down because there’s only 10 seconds left on the clock and they need a play. And this is a a penalty, which like by the way, like that’s just a horrible decision to make a penalty. That is a penalty. He grabbed him. Let him make the catch and tackle him and the half is over. The Chiefs are out of timeouts. That’s just a bad bad decision, but it’s still a tremendous play from Molmes. And it did feel like this kind of gave them some life. You know, I think us analytics people always kind of make fun of it when someone will say like, “Oh, you want to you want to go into the half with momentum, right?” Cuz like like really no, you want to go into the half with more points, right? But having momentum, having that field goal, I think it maybe just gave them some life and gave them some confidence cuz they really did play great in the second half. And it wasn’t just X’s and O’s like this. You have Kelsey and Mahomes. You know they’re not going to go away from each other. And watch what happens on this play. Watch the route from Kelsey. Watch as he’s going to kind of fake as though he was going over the middle. Gets to the outside and is able to make the grab. Picks up a big gain. That’s the Travis Kelce we know. Uh right. Travis Kelce we know and love or Travis Kelce and uh know and hate depending on who you are. But it’s a it’s a great play by him and it’s a you know good chemistry with him and Mahomes. Right. Later on, you saw this sequence where it’s uh Taekquin Thornton running a a go route one-on-one matchup. And again, for Taekquin Thornton, he was picked 50th overall by the uh New England Patriots, but he was kind of projected to be like a early fourth rounder. The Pat that was one of those, you know, Bill Bich years where he’s drafting players a lot earlier than people think they should go. Kind of just mostly known for a speed, you know, being tall and fast, but doesn’t have a ton else to his game. However, on this play, you see, I mean, being tall and fast, he can just run by the corner who is trying to cover him. And now you have an opportunity to make the play. Hey, you don’t need a ton else when you can run a 4-3 sometimes. Mahomes makes this throw and okay, well, you need something else. You need to be able to catch the football. He was not able to catch the football, you know, bobbled around, wasn’t able to haul it in. So, you’re like, “Oh man, that was, you know, another opportunity wasted by the Chiefs.” But then what happened on the third down first? Watch Mahomes on this play. Mahomes is going to just watch how he throws this where there’s pressure off the edge and you see him he’s going to I mean this is this is like you could put this on a logo or something. The way he throws off balance like this it’s it’s become iconic. Uh cuz we know he’s going to make an accurate throw. Again, this is really just a jump ball which I got to say I don’t know if I love that decision. You know, it’s a one-on-one matchup, but you want to make sure you get a field goal and go up two scores. Again, I’m being lame. Who cares? Let’s just watch the fun play. You see Mahomes going to make a ridiculous throw. And honestly, this is a great catch. I don’t care how Thornton drops the first one and then somehow makes this. That’s an amazing catch. But gives Thornton some some confidence. And and maybe part of it is, hey, this is a long season. And I want to show Taekquin Thornton that I trust him to throw it up there. Even if he can’t quite make the play, uh it, you know, helps him with confidence going forward. I’m probably just making excuses. I don’t love that decision. I don’t Also, over here, I don’t love this decision. It’s a third down and four. Um, you know, 2 minutes and 20 seconds left. The game is over if you get a first down. It’s probably over if you don’t get a first down. Mahomes takes the snap. He’s going to uh look down the field. There’s a a deep shot. But again, this is just another jump ball to these receivers. And like I don’t know, it feels like the one way you could lose this game is if the Giants get a turnover. I mean, I guess the way he’s thinking it, it’s an arm punt. It’s not that different than if you just have to punt the ball away. Um, but still I I just I I don’t it it’s not not ideal. You don’t want to do this. This one also also part of why it’s not ideal is it wasn’t a great situation. It it probably should have been intercepted. So, a lot of turnover worthy plays. Um, but ultimately they’re playing a fire and they’re not getting burned in at least in this game. I do think there’s a lot of stuff they have to clean up though. Have to clean up the miscommunications. They have to block better. Joan Taylor has to block better and stop making penalties. But with Mahomes’s ability to scramble and he still can throw down the field if they can get a little bit more there. Uh it can keep them afloat until again they need those other receivers back though before this is going to be a a great offense is kind of how I view all of this. But yeah, those are my thoughts. Ended up being a longer video than I had intended. So hey, if you made it to the end of this, I appreciate it. Uh if you’re interested, I do have a movie channel uh where I talk about movies, some movie reviews, things like that. You can check that out if you want. The link is in the description below. It’s called Jackson Krueger Movies. But yeah, those are my thoughts on Mahomes. What are yours? Let me know in the comments below. Always love hearing from you.

Check out my movie Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@jacksonkruegermovies

Check out JKS Clips for podcast clips and Twitch Streams
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnvk4ge8GItwlOe065XWKAg

Follow me on twitch https://www.twitch.tv/jacksonkruegersports

Check out the JKS website https://www.jacksonkruegersports.com/

Follow me on Twitter @jacksonkrueger https://twitter.com/jacksonkrueger

Also follow me on Instagram @jacksonkruegersports https://www.instagram.com/jacksonkruegersports/