Think DJ said it elsewhere but Mahomes needs to trust these guys to make plays.
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Here's the issue - JJSS could've been wide-ass open and Mahomes would've never known.

He never gave that play a chance to develop at all. JJSS hadn't even made his break yet and Mahomes, for no reason, had pulled the ball down and run forward.

"Nobody was open!!!" is the cry. I don't really agree - a throw was there to be made to JJSS though yes, it would've been tough. Again, Pat, you're a superstar and this roster is built through you, tough throws are throws you HAVE to make.

But that's not even the biggest issue. The biggest issue is that he on the play before there was any way to know if anyone was going to be open anyway.
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I'm not sure just what the point of the play design was here. It's like a lot of window-dressing to get the short out for JJSS? Why? Just to get JuJu a catch that was never going to go for mor than 5 yds?

Yeah, so I watched this 10 times, and it really looks like we tried to manufacture a target/catch for JJSS for a couple yards. None of the releases look like anything other than the other receivers trying to bully their defenders up the field, Watson basically is trying to get in the way of the DB that's trying to cover Juju (unsuccessfully), and because neither Travis nor DHop attempt to do anything other than run their defenders upfield, the spacing's all effed up. No one but juJu is a viable target.

Why? Just to say we got him the ball during the game? What was the down/distance on this play?




Could this have been some kind of WR screen play that got effed up?
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He played 83% of the snaps last night! That's tied for the highest percentage of snaps for a WR this year. Rice had played in 83% of snaps in week 2.
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Last night Worthy had the best game of the season. Not statistically, obviously, but just being all over the field and catching timely passes. Andy is utilizing him in different ways, not simply as a gadget type like he did early in the season. I really like the fact that he hasn't gotten injured, yet. His thin frame is muscular/bony if that makes any sense. Not thin fat but very lean and bony.

The biggest issue really has been Mahomes not developing chemistry with him because the eye test tells you a different story. He has an incredible ability to create sizeable seperation and Mahomes is not taking advantage of that, partly due to the O Line play but moreso because Mahomes just hasn't developed that consistent connection with him like he did with Rice last season.
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Yeah so doesn't that kinda speak to/align with what I'm seeing - and that's Mahomes playing a lot like Alex Smith when under pressure. He doesn't mentally trust the protection enough to patiently go through his reads and half the time, it's for legit reason.

I mean he has the physical ability to still make some nutty plays which Alex didn't (at least with his arm). But where it's the same is if his first read isn't open, his eyes are dropping, the feet are happy, and about 1/3 of the time it's ending with a sack. The other 1/3 it ends incomplete. And then you get 1/3 of the magic stuff.
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There was a quick out Worthy ran similar to what Juju ran here and Mahomes held onto it. I’m not sure Worthy makes any difference here.

And I will agree with O. That’s one that can easily go the wrong way if you see the wrong thing. Giving Mahomes some grace, they had man coverage here and they did a good job of switching guys off so it was really sticky. If you pause it as Mahomes hits his drop, Juju’s defender is hidden behind Watson. He probably wasn’t able to see that the guy was getting run through and decided not to risk it.

Look at the sticks. Looks like it was probably 3rd and 5. Juju’s route takes him right to the 1st down marker.

Idk the exact terminology for this play but it’s like a hi/low. Or they call it flooding the zone. You’ve got three guys running outs: one short, one medium and the other deep. Ideally you make that call against zone coverage. You’ll have only two defenders in that area and they have to choose which ones to cover. If they cover the two deep guys, you throw to the short man. If they cover the short and the deep, you throw it to the middle guy, etc.

It’s not the best route combo against man but it looks like Andy accounted for that by running the guys out of a stacked bunch to create confusion. Ideally in this scenario, defenders get confused and someone comes open on a miscommunication.

It’s not a bad call. Ideally Mahomes would have just thrown this one as soon as he hits his drop. As soon as that back foot hits, fire this one low and away where only Juju can reach it. It should be right out in front of him as he turns his head.
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Ideally ideally ideally
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I didn't see the sticks, which is why I asked. It does look like a flood, but like I said there's something odd about it.


And the spacing sucks. Everyone's so tightly bunched I just don't get how anyone but JuJu could be a target.
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I like that. I feel like we have too many different packages and too many people running on and off the field each play. Just keep your best players on the field and run the offense. If they get tired, they can get spelled. But keep the base players in and let them get together.
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Based on the down and distance, I’d imagine the play was called with the intention of getting it to Juju. That makes the most sense.

Given his history, Mahomes’ second look was probably Kelce coming over the middle. He actually was pretty open, it just took him forever to fight through the jam.
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Yeah, it did. What I thought was kind of weird was DHop purposefully taking on the DB and bullying him down the field 7 yds. I guess that must've been the design, to create space underneath for JuJu, instead of just juking the guy and running by him? Idk, it was an odd-looking play to me.

But I'm not the biggest fan of running manufactured touch plays; I'd rather run an iso or something and target the best players.
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It’s a class slant flat pick play

Throw the ball

DJ is right, Pat gave up on it before it played out
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That's the moral of the story for me, too.

Throw the damn ball.

I know we won a SB last year by being smart with the ball and having a great defense, but it's such a hard recipe to replicate. Throw the damn ball. Score points.
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I'm not sure why we aren't running a few slants with Worthy. The kid seems to be good at making catches in traffic or when he's getting hit. I think he could run the same stuff that Rice was running when he was playing. I think Worthy is gonna have 2 or 3 big games to finish out the season.
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