Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes went seven straight games with at least one turnover prior to Week 10. He also had a four-game skid where he only threw a total of two touchdowns, per Pro Football Reference. His consistently poor play caused some in the NFL landscape to pile on the quarterback, like ESPN analyst and former NFL safety Ryan Clark, who went as far as to say that Mahomes was “broken” following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 13-7 win over the Green Bay Packers in Week 9.
But Mahomes’ play drastically changed in Week 10 compared to what it had been for the better part of two months.
During the Chiefs’ 41-14 blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Mahomes completed 70% of his passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns. It was one of the most dominating performances a quarterback has put together this season, and one of the best of Mahomes’ career. It also caused Clark to try to explain away his hot take that he had dished out just a week prior.
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“I said [Patrick Mahomes] was broken and the whole world was like, ‘ahhh you said he was broken,’ you know what, broken stuff gets fixed. But you have to acknowledge that it needs to be fixed, and that’s what Mahomes did last night,” Clark explained during ESPN’s morning show, Get Up! on Monday, November 15.
Clark and fellow NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky also explained what Mahomes did in order to have so much success against Las Vegas.
.@realrclark25 says Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are fixed.
“I said [Patrick Mahomes was broken] … You know what? Broken stuff gets fixed!”
Clark: Mahomes is Broken
During an episode of ESPN’s Morning Show, Get Up! on Monday, November 8, Clark bashed Mahomes after Kansas City’s victory over Green Bay at Arrowhead Stadium.
“He’s broken; Patrick Mahomes is broken, and he’s broken because he’s the same that he’s always been, and that’s no longer good enough,” Clark said. “It’s time for Patrick Mahomes to pivot, it’s time for Patrick Mahomes to play football in a different way. But sometimes when you’ve been so successful doing one thing, it’s hard to do another, and they are asking the entire Kansas City Chiefs offense to do this.
“[Defenses are] saying ‘become a running football team, be committed to that,’ they’re saying ‘take the check-downs, be committed to that.’ They’re saying, ‘you know what, you will not have the big play against us, so we’re going to make you earn every blade of grass, and we believe you will make a mistake,’ and that’s what’s been happening. This is a boring offense that refuses to be boring to win football games.”
.@Realrclark25 sounds off on Patrick Mahomes this season 😳
“Patrick Mahomes is broken! … He’s the same as he’s always been, but that’s no longer good enough.”
Mahomes Explains Turnaround
Following the win in Week 10 — which brought the defending AFC champions to a 6-4 record and first place in the AFC West — Mahomes explained what he believes led to his success in a pivotal regular-season game for Kansas City.
“Yeah I think just taking what was there especially early in the game. Not trying to force and letting the big plays come to me and I think we saw that,” Mahomes explained. “We were patient, you take what’s there and you execute. The defense will eventually come up and you’ll be able to hit some of those shots later in the game.”
The Chiefs’ star quarterback also determined whether he believes Kansas City will be able to have the same type of success offensively moving forward.
“Yeah I mean I think it’s a battle every single week,” Mahomes explained. “Obviously, they’re probably going to do some type of different two high stuff. They’re not going to sit back and give us the exact same coverage every single time. They’re going to try to find ways to confuse me and confuse this offense, so we have to make in-game adjustments. We can still take what’s there and whenever the shots do present themselves, we have to hit those.”
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Ryan Clark Walks Back Patrick Mahomes ‘Broken’ Comments