Ranking the biggest disappointments for the KC Chiefs in 2020
By Byron Smith
1. Mahomes maybe having an off year
With 1,134 yards passing and 11 touchdowns, Patrick Mahomes is on pace for 4,536 passing yards and 44 touchdowns on the season, all while averaging 11.2 yards per completion. He’s also averaging 6.0 yards per rushing attempt and he’s got a rushing score to his name as well.
And he is very obviously having a bad year.
Mahomes is throwing bad passes on 18.9 percent of his passes, with countless dropped interceptions making up a large number of those bad passes. He has been on target 79.7 percent of the time, but he is only completing 67.3 percent of his passes (only 2.1 percent of his passes are dropped), which means while Mahomes maybe “on target” he is still slightly missing receivers on 12.4 percent of his passes.
He has a QBR of 89.0, and has failed to find the end zone under regular means multiple times this season. Of his 11 touchdowns, only 6 of those have been the result of traditional passing and Mahomes’ ability. The other 5 were: 3 shovel passes (Hardman, Tyreek Hill, Anthony Sherman) 1 screen pass to Sammy Watkins, and 1 trick pass to Eric Fisher.
Most notable is Mahomes’ shortcomings on first downs, where he has the most incompletions. He is averaging the lowest yards per pass at 7.3 on first downs and has his lowest rating at 101.3. This is putting the Chiefs in long situations on second and third downs, threatening to end the Chiefs drives early—or at least making them tougher to maintain.
Again, Mahomes is the best player in the league, and maybe in NFL history, so his poor performances are enviable for most other players playing the same position in the league. However, his slow year is noticeable and maybe one of the main reasons for the Chiefs’ slower start offensively this season—even as they’re 4-0.