Predicting Patrick Mahomes’ encore to an MVP season

Patrick Mahomes had an incredible first year starting in the NFL, so what can we expect from the reigning MVP’s encore at the helm of the Chiefs’ offense?

I don’t know how the rest of Kansas City Chiefs fans are spending their time, but I have been surviving the football offseason by living on Patrick Mahomes’ highlights. In only his second year in the league, he had arguably one of the best seasons a quarterback has ever had—one which culminated in an NFL MVP win. It was breathtaking to watch live, and it is still amazing to watch over and over after the fact.

Understandably, there have been rumblings from national pundits and Chiefs fans alike of the dreaded “sophomore slump.” The idea here is that now, after a year of tape has become available, all of the brilliant defensive minds in the NFL will have a chance to dissect his plays and find a way to slow him down. Or worse, nullify his ability altogether.

This has happened so many times. Quarterbacks like Robert Griffin III and Dak Prescott are some of the most recent examples that come to mind. These players had spectacular first years as a starting quarterback. However, they followed that up with dismal campaigns and, at least in RGIII’s case, he is no longer a starter in the NFL.

As fans, we expect history to repeat itself. As fans of the Chiefs, we might still have this idea in the back of our heads that somehow Mahomes is too good to be true. Perhaps his first season starting was an anomaly and a fun one at that, but to expect anywhere close to that production now that professional defensive coordinators have all this tape is just setting us up for disappointment.