Patrick Mahomes has experienced slumps before, including last year when the Chiefs struggled so much late in the season that some thought they had little chance of winning another Super Bowl title.
Then the two-time league MVP delivered his best performances in the playoffs, leading them to a second straight championship.
Even though Mahomes hasn’t played well during the Chiefs’ 4-0 start heading into Monday night’s game against New Orleans—by his own high standards—he understands that things can change quickly.
He believes it’s important to focus on the details, those small but often ignored aspects, and to maintain the confidence that comes from having faced similar situations before.
“That’s what I learned last year,” Mahomes told a small group of reporters Wednesday. “I obviously went through a slump where I didn’t play as good at the end of last year, and I just continued to work on it in practice.
And in the playoffs, I thought I played at a very high level. And so that’s what I’ve been focusing on right now.”
Last season, Mahomes threw for his fewest yards in a full season in six years as a starter, along with the least number of touchdown passes and the most interceptions.
However, when the playoffs came around, Mahomes completed nearly 70% of his passes, threw six touchdown passes against one interception, and led Kansas City to victories over Miami, Buffalo, and Baltimore.
In the Super Bowl against San Francisco, he threw for 333 yards with two touchdowns and was named MVP of the Chiefs’ overtime win. This gives him hope for the rest of the season.
So far, Mahomes has had what might be his worst four-game stretch as an NFL starter, throwing for 909 yards with six touchdown passes and five interceptions. He is aware of this and insists after each win that he needs to play better.
He believes there are several reasons for the slow start, but none are related to a busy offseason away from the field.
One reason is that opposing defenses have started using shell coverages, which take away the deep passes that Mahomes became famous for when Tyreek Hill was on the team.
Defenses are basically daring Kansas City to beat them with their running game or forcing Mahomes to throw short passes to gain first downs and move the ball slowly down the field.
“It’s not as fun,” he admitted with a smile. “You’re not going to see a lot of one-play touchdowns unless you hit, like, a crazy shot. So we have to keep working so that we can execute at a high level.
And I think that has been something I’ve worked on with how teams are playing us. I have to continue to do that and show that we can drive the ball all game long.”
Another major reason Mahomes thinks he has started slowly is what he calls paralysis by analysis.
Just like baseball players often watch video of themselves to break out of a slump, Mahomes sometimes reviews film from his earlier days, when he was breaking records every time he played. What he noticed was a quarterback who relied on his instincts to make plays, just like he did as a kid playing pickup football.
“There’s some points now where you almost know too much,” he said. “When I was younger, I would just cut it loose. Like, I’d just go through the reads the way they sat on paper, and I’d throw the deep shot if it was there. I gave it chances.
And now there are times where I’m like, ‘Well, they’re supposed to be in this coverage and that’s not supposed to be there,’ and it is.”
“So you’ve got to have the balance of, I don’t want to say being naive, but in reading the play the way it’s supposed to be read, even if the coverage says it’s not going to be that guy, and then when it’s there, you take your chances.”
Mahomes still didn’t play his best last week in Los Angeles, even though the Chiefs managed to rally for a 17-10 win over the Chargers. However, as he reviewed the game film, he found moments that made him feel confident he was improving again.
One highlight was connecting with rookie Xavier Worthy for a 54-yard touchdown pass that put Kansas City on the scoreboard.
The Chiefs have now won four games by a touchdown or less. Two of these games, against Baltimore and Cincinnati, were decided on the last play. Their victory over the Falcons came down to a fourth down stand in the final minute.
All this happened while their star quarterback continues to work through a slump.
“That’s why I think it’s special what we’ve been doing early in the season, not playing our best football but finding ways to win,” Mahomes said, “because a lot of these games could be losses, and we could be looking at a way different rest of the year.”
