Yeah, and he's had some real "Fuck it I'm blasting this thing into DHop" throws that he hasn't made in his career yet. He forced the ball to Kelce some in the past and thrown some balls up to Reek, but especially on the short stuff, he's thrown balls to DHop that were absolutely unequivocally not open and he did it (almost always caught BTW).

It's like he's a different dude than he was 5 weeks ago.
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Which seems counterintuitive, right? Some of Patrick's greatest plays are when he extends the play and does something off script.

Maybe defenses are more keen to Mahomes' tendencies and more disciplined when he breaks the pocket. Or maybe our receivers aren't what they were a few years ago and they can't get the separation. Idk, I digress.

It's interesting to see Mahomes slowly but surely morph more into Brady as far as getting the ball out quickly, while sprinkling in the things that make Mahomes unique.
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It's counterintuitive for folks that aren't Chiefs fans and only see the highhlights.

For Chiefs fans who see him play every week, we KNOW that when he's dialed in, he's working fast and aggressive. He's out there slinging it. He's not patting the ball and dancing in the pocket.

It's not counterintuitive at all when you watch him every single week.
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Definitely seems like he was in his own head for a while or mentally drained or something on top of LT and receivers.

Hollywood has been huge, but hasn't even been on the field half the time. He got pretty good protection in the Browns game and still missed relative easy throws outside the pocket with no pressure.

Obviously there are a ton of variables, while we tend to want to cram it all into one simplified narrative... and then the past couple weeks happen and we just call it "flipping the switch".
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Seems like he did at first but as the game went on he got the shit beat out of him. He was getting hit so much and hard it was worrisome.
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True enough.

If anyone watches First Things First, Brou's biggest sticking point with Mahomes is he wants to see "The Light Show", he wants Mahomes to be like Jordan putting up 30 or 40 whenever he felt like it. I know it might seem silly to bring up a talking head since most of them have nothing of value to say, but Brou is one of the few that I actually respect.

But it seems like Brou has selective memory, Jordan didn't win championships with "The Light Show", he won championships when he was surrounded by great teams and a great coach. Jordan recognized that, and I'm sure Mahomes recognizes that, too. I wonder why so many other people don't seem to recognize that.
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True, but he was also holding onto the ball far too long at times and wasn't decisive at all. The number of times he'd pump fake a bit and put his head down to run was just mind boggling considering how many hits he was taking... even in 2021 when the offense looked like complete shit, he was throwing passes at the feet of receivers and not just holding onto the ball forever.

I had no doubt the entire offense would collectively get their heads out of their asses, but surprised it happened so quickly (and before the playoffs started), even with the LT change and Hollywood.
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Don't ignore the injury.

When he knows that ankle is wonky and focuses on trying to read/fire as quickly as possible to protect it, that's going to shift his mindset a little bit.

I think MOST of this actually started with the addition of Hopkins. Then some of it happened with Thuney dying slowly and the addition of Hollywood (and the continued development of Worthy).

But I think a genuine catalyst for pulling it together as FAST as it happened was the ankle. It forced him into the mindset that best fits the weapons/strengths/weaknesses we have on offense right now.

It created a real adapt or die moment for him.
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I agree that he was holding the ball to long but it immediately changed when the LT position became stabilized. Almost like a turnstile LT position compounded his bad tendencies.
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Speaking of stats, I heard this one on 810 yesterday. If the games had ended at the 2 minute warning this year the Chiefs would be 10-6 right now.

And yes Pat struggled early in games this year, but he was by far the best 4th quarter QB. So I am buying the narrative that they are experimenting with shit early in games.
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I think people also remember those “Magic Mahomes” moments when he had to create those ad-libbed plays out of necessity (escaping Bosa in Super Bowl 54, “The Run” against the Titans, his crazy 360 spin touchdown to Pringle in the 13 seconds game, etc).

He can do that stuff, but it’s a problem when he’s trying to do that stuff every play. A normie fan who watches him in the Eagles Super Bowl (by far his best Super Bowl), might take the position that Andy has turned him into Alex Smith without appreciating that what Patrick did was more impressive on his face that the Super Bowls that contained WASP or the 57 yard bomb to Hardman.
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I'll still maintain that the Eagles Super Bowl, especially in context, is the best game he's ever played and one of the best games any QB has EVER played.

He was fucking unconscious in that game against a SAVAGE philly defense.

Like you said -- it's the difference between the casual fans and the guys who watch him every week. We KNOW when he's playing well and it isn't because he's out there pulling plays from his ass.

It's because he doesn't have to. When he's locked in, it's Neo in the Matrix. Everything slows down around him and he just looks like he's in complete command. The more 'showy' games he plays are usually among his worst.
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I like Kurt Warner. I think his analysis tends to be head and shoulders above the “former QB YouTuber analyst”, but his take on Patrick’s play in Super Bowl 57 has always made me think he’s a bit jealous of Patrick’s success and situation with Andy Reid. Kurt was a pretty big critic of Patrick’s 57 performance and so much of it was “well, this was a short completion on first down, but if Patrick would have waited one more second, he’d see further downfield that…”

That hypothetical analysis has never held water with me unless the QB dumped it for a 2 yard gain on 3rd and 8 or some such. For Warner to beat that drum so heavily and then claim that Purdy outplayed Patrick in 58 (lmao), has always smelled of jealousy to me.

But then he became Patrick’s biggest defender during this season? I don’t know, the oldheads have a weird code, man.
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He talks a lot about that, too... the prep time and practice that's behind all the arm angles, throwing on the run, etc.... already knowing what he's doing in any given situation and then physically preparing to make those plays.

And even when the offense is at its worst, the first drive of the game tends to still be above average since those are the scripted plays.. and then at the end of games when he just goes out and plays ball.
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Trust me, they've been calling him a YAC merchant as early as 2022. Y'know, right around the time Fangio's 2-high shell was at it's peak in popularity and the Chiefs needed to find a new way to beat it?

It's why guys like Bill Simmons make me roll my eyes when he talks about football. "The Chiefs don't 'wow' me, they look pretty vulnerable". This is the life-long Patriots fan, by the way, who watched Brady do literally the exact same thing.
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