KANSAS CITY, Mo. Patrick Mahomes can spin it in anything, in case you havent heard.
Home or away. Warm or cold. Clear skies or falling snow.
In a micd up segment released this week, the Chiefs quarterback flaunted his ability to throw the ball through a blizzard during Sundays 23-3 win against the Denver Broncos.
I spin this (bleep) in anything, he repeated.
But what he would really like to take away from that victory: How often he was able to spin it from within the pocket.
After Mahomes navigated the worst three-game stretch of his career and heres where we offer a reminder this is all relative to the standard hes set the reigning league MVP pinpointed a flaw in his mechanics. Well, a few flaws, actually. But several derived from the same mistake.
He abandoned the pocket before it was necessary. Sometimes he rolled out too quickly. Other times he trailed too far back, lengthening his throws. That prompted him to chuck the football off his back foot or hastily sling it without using his legs much at all.
So ahead of last Sundays game against Denver, he drilled the fundamentals over and over again. The result? He finished 27 of 34 for 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns completions, yardage and TDs all besting anything he had done over the previous three weeks.
Just working on form and mechanics as far as keeping my knees bent and hitching up and really throwing it the right way, Mahomes said. Not just relying on my arm on every single throw to throw a fadeaway or whatever it is. Really just going through the fundamentals. Thats something Ive worked on my entire career, and Ill try to work on it moving forward.
Mahomes is able to make throws absent the fundamentals, perhaps so more than any other quarterback in the league. Hes also suffered knee and ankle injuries on opposite legs, and the possibility hes protecting both cant be ignored.
But when possible, when a pocket permits, Plan A is step up and fire not abandon ship and look for creativity. The latter came to best light two weeks ago in the Chiefs win against Oakland.
Mahomes rolled out of the pocket nine times in that game, either on his own or when the pressure forced it. He completed just 3 of 9 throws for 32 yards. When he stayed in the pocket, he was 12 of 20 for 143 yards and a touchdown.
The Chiefs certainly dont want Mahomes to lose his instincts. But there must be a method to it.
He worked on stepping up in the pocket and pushing in there, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. I thought he did a good job with that (against the Broncos). There are times where you gotta go just times that youve gotta get out. But he went back, and he really focused on that. I thought he did a good job Sunday with it.
Take his first touchdown as a prime example. After play-action, Mahomes waited on Tyreek Hills deep route to develop, then slid forward between his tackles to make the throw even as the middle of the line experienced some pushback.
