There are many reasons for Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’ matches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Turn on the TV, or listen to voice radio, and almost everyone has a …

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Turn on the television, or listen to talk radio, and almost everyone has an opinion on why Patrick Mahomes plays so poorly.

He is a newlywed father who lacks sleep and who spent too much time on commercials and recommendations in the low season. He was galivating around the world, appearing in exotic locations or at famous golf tournaments, instead of spending long days researching feature films or studying the game book in the wake of an embarrassing Super Bowl loss.

The biggest reasons? They can be much simpler.

The offensive line that protects Mahomes has been completely rebuilt after the failure in Tampa, and three of the starters in Week 1 had never played a regular season game. The playmakers around Mahomes are not that potent, the schedule for the first seven weeks has been brutal and the only luck he has had so far has been poor.

Not that Mahomes is willing to blame anyone else.

“You can just watch the tape and know I have to play better to be successful,” he said. “There were times (last week against Tennessee) when we had a guy open downfield and I couldn’t hit them. I said to them, ‘I must get better.’ But at the same time, they have the mindset that they need to build me up. You are not going to play your best game every single week, so you have to expect other guys to come forward and play for you. ”

So far, they have not exactly done so.

The offensive line has yielded 14 sacks, which has put Mahomes on pace for more than any other season – even last year when the flock up front was decimated by injuries. It has not only made Mahomes hurry to throw or twist from his pocket, it has also put him in danger; he took a bad blow to the head late in the Titans game.

As for help elsewhere, the Chiefs often allowed injured Sammy Watkins to leave in free play and has yet to find a No. 2 wide receiver to play against Tyreek Hill. Fifth-round pick Cornell Powell was cut before the season, Josh Gordon tries to pick up enough of the playbook to help, and everyone else has been mediocre at best.

In fact, former free agent Byron Pringle has been the most helpful of the other passers-by this season.

Not only do they struggle to stay open, they do not catch on when they do. The normally secured Hill is in second place in the league in drops this season, the Chiefs are just outside the top 10 as a team, and Demarcus Robinson – the No. 2 wide receiver in terms of snap numbers – has only caught a 55% of the balls thrown at him.

Oh, and three times a pass has jumped off a goal and been picked off.

It is no wonder that Mahomes, who had the league’s lowest wiretapping rate last season, has already thrown nine interceptions, just two after his total of the last two seasons combined. And his yards-per-try rate is easily the worst in his career.

“Listen, things are happening in this business. It’s a floating business,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid. “You’re going to have ups and downs, so you keep hammering through it. If you are willing to attack the problems, it will change. “

Mahomes pointed to errors in his own fundamental Thursday when the Chiefs took to the training ground for the first time for Monday night’s game against the Giants. His footwork gets messy when he pushes, he can hang too long in his pocket when trying to play, and in the end he has a habit of trying to do too much.

That was evident on two turnovers in the first half last week against Tennessee.

On the first, Mahomes was flushed out of his pocket and had open field to his left, but he chose to throw into close coverage deep down the pitch and was intercepted as he could probably have picked up a first down on the ground.

On the other, Mahomes was again forced to flee his pocket and headed for the open field to his right. But instead of slipping after getting the first one down, he tried to collect another yard or two, failed to save the ball and eventually fumbled it away.

“He will not hide or shy away from anything. He will attack it and fix it,” Reid said. “We coaches are here to teach; that’s what we do. Any guidance we can give him – any of the players – we will do that. We all need to raise our game, the coaches and the players. “

NOTES: DL Chris Jones was released from Thursday’s training session for personal reasons. … LB Anthony Hitchens remained out with a triceps injury. DT Khalen Saunders missed the training with swelling in the knee.

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