He nails it!! Previous 2 years rotating through different WR’s had an impact on this area of his game but having Rice, Worthy, JuJu, Hollywood all back for multiple years like Mahomes had Hill, Watkins, Hardman, Robinson first 4 years is huge as the chemistry & cohesion is all intact and consistent rather than having to start from scratch each year.

19 comments

  1. I’m no former QB that gave the defense a safety because I had no special awareness, but it seems that the return of Mahomes being comfortable directly coincides in having a trustworthy O-line again. He can “skip” out of a sack and isn’t in constant scramble mode from the start of the play.

  3. Yeah…. this is just dumb. If you watch the games it’s the O-line, stupid.

    Mahomes didn’t lose his ability to create off schedule in 23 and 24 and magically find it this season. He was rushed and couldn’t trust his protection.

  4. “He is mentally in his comfort zone again”

    Well Dan, what made him uncomfortable those years? The OLine being trustworthy has allowed him to play free, and completely focus downfield. His confidence is back to how he used to be.

    Not saying Dan is wrong, he is right, but all that is a by product of the offensive line being massively improved. You protect the MVP, it opens everything up, puts him at his best.

    Just my 2 cents from a know nothing couch sitter.

  7. Andy completely losing faith in Butker and going for it on 4th down at a much higher rate than previous years is a big help.

    Chiefs were 26th last season in 4th down attempts with only 17, even though they had a 70% success rate which was 3rd best in the league. They have already attempted 17 (4th in league) this year through 8 games at an 82% success rate (3rd best in league).

    It’s felt like such a waste kicking field goals on 4th and short with the best QB in the league, and the success rates really back that up.

  9. I think it’s because Mahomes lost weight.

    I’ve been saying he needs to lose weight for the last two years. He looks a lot faster and elusive this year

  10. love that he’s using 3+ second passes to prove that it’s not the line that’s returned his performances. how does he think pat’s getting 3+ seconds to pass?

  11. I think it is the synergistic effect. The combined effort is greater than the sum of the individual efforts.

  12. I think a lot of it is the OL but it’s also having multiple receivers that would actually get playing time on other NFL teams.

  13. I can’t believe how stupid that dude is for a former pro football player. Having no trust in your o line and receivers ruins everything. It’s that simple. And he had no reason to trust either all year last year.

  14. I feel like Dan-O is being pedantic for the sake of sounding clever and ingenious. I don’t disagree with his assessment, but I questioned his premise that Mahomes being back to playing at a MVP level isn’t a direct correlation to the strength of his O-line. What? Nani?! Why are we overcomplicating what is well known and documented? QB play greatly improves when you protect them behind an elite O-line, and the inverse is true.

    Tom Brady always played behind a great O-line, and the times he didn’t, they lost the Superbowl. Football is fundamentally about protecting your QB while being able to harass and waylay the opponent’s QB you accomplish those two things, usually equals a winning formula.

    Now, it’s also true that surrounding Mahomes with cerebral playmakers will raise the ceiling of your offense. When Mahomes trusts his protection, he is at liberty to play freely, and the fun truly begins. However, protecting 15 is paramount once you do that 15 is unleashed and “Hell hath no fury like 15 unleashed.”

  16. Also we have the fear of the deep threat again. Watch any game, you’ll see Worthy or Thornton going deep and two guys on them. Those deep routes are opening up all the short and intermediary stuff, and this ties back to the OL being able to give Pat time to for deep Routes to open up

  17. Better blocking from healthier OTs has helped a lot as well. Basically all the OTs other than Kingsley Suamataia were playing through some kind of nagging injury issue, and Kingsley wasn’t ready to be a starter. That’s why Joe Tuney had to bump out to LT, and while he did ok, it severely weakened the spot he vacated. Kingsley has been better at LG than the relatively inexperienced Caliendo was towards the end of last year. But that experience helped Caliendo be more ready to fill in this year.

  18. Hard disagree on the idea that his WRs have played with him and know how to help extend plays.

    Hollywood, Royals and Thornton have very few game day snaps with PM15.

    Rice is the difference maker here. And it’s due to the OL giving time and space to extend plays.

  19. I don’t agree, Mahomes has also been better under those 3 seconds too this season

    Also this offseason was different for him , he started running more at the start of the season

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