Patrick Mahomes is still among the best (even at his worst)

Mahomes vs. the worst in the AFC

Stacking Mahomes against the other playoff contending QBs in the conference exploits a couple of simple points. Although he’s turned the ball over too much, he’s not turning it over any more than his greatest opponents, and he has the third most passing yards and passing touchdowns. He also has the fifth highest in QBR across the AFC.

To prove the idea that a “bad” Mahomes is still ultr- competitive, here are the numbers of the two quarterbacks on the least efficient offense in the conference: the Houston Texans.

• Tyrod Taylor: 91 completions (60%), 5 TD’s, 5 INT’s, 966 yards, 38.2 QBR
• Davis Mills: 146 completions (65%), 7 TD’s, 8 INT’s, 1,406 yards, 30.4 QBR

The take home point, as it pertains to the AFC, is that the narrative of Patrick Mahomes having the “yips” or being “broken” needs to go away. Yes, he’s struggled, and yes, he’s performing at an all-time low—to his standards. There is such a crystal clear divide between the big dogs and the posers at the quarterback position in the AFC, and Patrick Mahomes, even at his very worst, is still a big dog.

Mahomes vs. the MVP conversation

There are three front-runners for the leagues most prestigious award with four weeks left in the season and they are all quarterbacks. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are in the limelight, but Kyler Murray, even after missing three games, has re-emerged in the conversation. All three are having substantially better seasons than Mahomes, but when you put their numbers side-by-side, he’s not far removed from the picture.

As a matter of fact, depending on where you look,Mahomeshe will appear as the fourth or fifth favorite in the race. However, it would take a lot of work to catch any of the top three contenders, and here’s why: Brady leads the league in completions (347), touchdowns (34), and passing yards (3,771). Murray has the highest completion percentage in the league (72.7%) and has also collected five rushing touchdowns. Rodgers has 23 touchdowns, just 4 interceptions, and a QBR of 65.2.

It’s unlikely that Patrick Mahomes will emerge as the MVP in 2021, but his play, which has been torn apart by critics all year, deserves some respect. It’s also important to not get lost in what we as fans have seen in the past, and accept that some times will be harder than others. At the end of the day, with all things considered, we should celebrate the fact that when our quarterback is at his worst, he is still in the conversation for being the best in the league.