Getty Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks to pass over Shaquil Barrett #58 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Among a list of reasons for the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, Patrick Mahomes’ poor passing numbers are at the bottom of that list. However, Mahomes is still critical of himself after losing out on back-to-back championships.
Here’s what he told The Ringer’s Kevin Clark in a recent feature about the Chiefs quarterback:
“Sometimes,” Patrick Mahomes told me, “when I get hit early, I don’t trust staying in the pocket and going through my reads.”
“I kind of get back to that backyard-style football a little bit too much. And you could definitely see that in the Super Bowl. I mean, there were times that pockets were clean and I was still scrambling,” Mahomes continued.
Mahomes then mentioned later in the feature what he would like to do instead of scrambling unnecessarily.
“Days like today,” he said, “we have long drive drills. We’re going 15 and 16 plays in a row of stepping up in the pocket and making the right reads and not just relying on scrambling and making all these different throws. That’s just stuff that comes with repetition and a lot of hard work that I’ve tried to put in every single year.”
Yes, Mahomes’ stat line of 270 yards and two interceptions while completing just 53 percent of his passes wasn’t great. And yes, there were times in Super Bowl LV when he was a bit skittish in the pocket. It was also very proactive of the quarterback to watch such a tough loss and come away with feedback he could utilize during the offseason.
But very little of that poor performance was because of Mahomes.
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Poor Offensive Line Play
The 2018 league and Super Bowl LIV MVP was under pressure for 29 of a possible 56 snaps (51%) in the Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers, which is a Super Bowl record.
Patrick Mahomes was pressured more in this game than any QB in Super Bowl history (29), passing the record of 25 by Jim Kelly in SB XXVI.
Tom Brady faced his fewest pressures (4) in any Super Bowl of his career
Between injuries to starting offensive linemen Eric Fisher and Mitchell Swartz and two opt-outs — Lucas Niang and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — it came to no surprise that a patched-up Chiefs offensive line was taken advantage of by a talented Tampa Bay front seven in the Super Bowl. That’s why Kansas City’s No. 1 priority this offseason was bolstering that unit.
The first big move this offseason for the Chiefs was signing former New England Patriots All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to a five-year, $80 million deal. Then in April, they made a big trade to acquire offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Fast forward to training camp, and three rookies are also earning significant reps with the first-team offense. Second-round pick Creed Humphrey looks to be the starting center, sixth-round pick Trey Smith at right guard, and 2020 third-round pick Niang at right tackle.
Andy Reid Has Faith in Rookies
Despite it being an unusual maneuver to have that many rookies on the first-team unit, head coach Andy Reid believes he can have success with the new guys.
“I’ve started a number of rookies in there and they’ve done a good job, but sure, you like to have experience,” Reid told reporters during the first week of training camp. “But again, I’ve had success with rookies too, so it’s kind of individually based on how they step up and communicate and how willing the veteran players are to share with them their experiences. Then, fortunately, they have Andy (Heck) who played in the league for 14 years and has been coaching forever as their coach.”
Between a strong coaching staff and a plethora of talented defensive lineman who can also coach them up on what they are seeing from the other side of the football, all of the new faces on the offensive line are in a position to succeed. That’s good news for Kansas City, especially Mahomes, who needs to stay on his feet if he wants to continue playing at an elite level for years to come.
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Patrick Mahomes Critical of Himself After Watching SBLV Film