“This is just like last year where everyone is talking about concerns with Mahomes & the offense well I can tell you exactly what’s going on. They have a fantastic elite defense that does not get the national love or headlines they deserve. That young defense their GM built by trading Tyreek Hill to Miami, since last regular season is allowing Mahomes & Reid to be conservative with their pass play calls, run the ball more in September, October & November & slowly build up their pass game with rookie WR’s & cheap veterans who are not highly valued around the league but fit the Reid system well. You gotta understand Mahomes is 29 in his 7th season & Kelce is 35 but if you factor in their deep playoff runs over the last six years they have played an entire extra season & every game they play their opponent treats them like it’s their Super Bowl & it’s hard for them to get up week after week and match that intensity.
So their elite young defense & run game is allowing Mahomes & the pass game to take the LeBron approach. LeBron got to a point especially in his second stint in Cleveland where in the regular season he not play defense and settled for 3 point shots but when the playoffs arrived you saw LeBron at his peak form playing elite defense & attacking the rim relentlessly. Because of their defense, Mahomes & Reid in September, October & November are comfortable handing the ball off and being conservative in the pass game. Mahomes is not being aggressive throwing the football downfield right now or using his legs to make many throws on the move right now because it’s by design!!
He no longer prioritizes September, October, November and no longer cares about winning MVP’s or regular season awards, he prioritizes his body & peak play for when it matters most in late December & playoffs in January thanks to an elite defense. They’re (5-0) and Mahomes has been pretty dormant thus far and I’m telling you Kansas City feels great about themselves because it’s by design.” - Pete Prisco [Reply]
I think it’s somewhat right. They’re being more conservative on offense and running the ball more because that’s what there.
I also think they tried to amp up the weapons so they wouldn’t have to be as conservative and injuries have just derailed it. Marquise Brown was going to be a big, big part of that and suffered a very random injury that has knocked him out. Rice going down just exacerbates the issue.
So they’re relying on the D and run game more as a result.
I’d still like to see if they could plug Diontae Johnson into the offense, as he would give the Chiefs what Brown offered, but the Panthers have to pick up the phone, too. [Reply]
This offense can improve by not turning the ball over and not running dumb plays in the red zone.
If you're going to win with defense, limiting your offensive mistakes and missed opportunities is key. This team leaves too many points on the board which cause games to be closer than necessary. It would also be nice if Jawaan Taylor stopped killing drives with his penalties. [Reply]
I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0? [Reply]
Originally Posted by jjchieffan:
I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0?
We have the lowest number of explosive runs in the league at 6...2 of them are QB scrambles and 1 is the Worthy opening night play. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jjchieffan:
I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0?
The OP article explained this phenomenon... We are relying on our defense and avoiding wear, tear and emptying the playbook until late in the season and playoffs. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jjchieffan:
I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0?
That’s talking about average depth of target. His y/a is 7.7 right now, which is much higher than last year (7.0).
A big difference is he’s only throwing 32 times a game right now, vs a career average of about 38 attempts per game. That’s 30 yards a game difference. [Reply]
This is an elite take. The real truth that a lot of people don’t want to acknowledge because they know scary it is given the Chiefs are 5-0.
Mahomes himself said in a pre-season interview that he tries not to run as much anymore until it’s do or die, or playoff games.
Andy has also been afforded the ability to be extremely patient and hold stuff back for the past five or so years. It’s not the prettiest formula for regular season games but it clearly leads to championships. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
This is an elite take. The real truth that a lot of people don’t want to acknowledge because they know scary it is given the Chiefs are 5-0.
Mahomes himself said in a pre-season interview that he tries not to run as much anymore until it’s do or die, or playoff games.
Andy has also been afforded the ability to be extremely patient and hold stuff back for the past five or so years. It’s not the prettiest formula for regular season games but it clearly leads to championships.
It's hard to evaluate as a fan, especially here on CP.
Because I think a lot of us (not me necessarily) are skeptical that the Chiefs, or any football team for that matter, can "flip the switch" and play amazing ball in the playoffs if you've looked mediocre to average all season up to that point. Fans and analysts want empirical evidence that you've been playing well to say you're the team to look out for. If you hold back all season, you're just a big floating question mark, no one knows if it's holding back or just actually being a bad team.
All of our football knowledge tells us that last year was a fluke and we can't just be bad all year and suddenly be good when it matters... but maybe you can? Who knows. [Reply]
Originally Posted by jjchieffan:
I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0?
That could also be interpreted as a stat in our favor. We haven't needed to go downfield to win, yet.
We're saving our big plays for the playoffs! [Reply]