The Kansas City Chiefs may have fallen short in their quest for a back-to-back Super Bowl ring earlier this year, but Patrick Mahomes‘ superb performance reassured them they were on safe hands for thecomeback in the 2021 NFL season.
However, for the firstweeks, the Chiefs haven’t lookedlike the team that made two straight trips to the Super Bowl at all. Now, the outlook may be a bit different asthey are riding on a five-game winning run to leadthe AFC West.
But some of their woes are still having an impact on the team and, surprisingly, they have to do with turnovers. Patrick Mahomes has already been intercepted more than in the 2019 and 2020 seasons combined (11), matchinga career-high 12 turnovers this year. The Texas Tech product has addressed this situation and downplayed its significance.
Chiefs news: Patrick Mahomes understands that interceptions are part of the game
The Chiefs arein a much more comfortable spot now with a 8-4 record that sees them in control of the AFC West. The loss at theTennessee Titans, which hasarguably been Mahomes’ worst performance, seemed to bea turning point for the Chiefs.Patrick still got intercepted after then buthe’s not losing his head about it.
“I mean it just happens, it’s part of football,” Mahomes said on Wednesday’s press conference, per ProFootballTalk. “Luckily enough, our defense is playing good enough that whenever they happen, they’re able to get stops and get turnovers or whatever it is and not let it impact the team. But you understand that turnovers are a huge part of this game. Our defense is getting a lot of turnovers and winning that turnover battle. I’ll try to limit them as much as possible, but at the same time I have to be me and continue to throw the football and give guys chances to make plays.
“I’m going to go through the play regardless as to who is at what position and what the read is,” he continued. “Coach [Andy] Reid does a good job of kind of maneuvering it so we can get it back to them pretty quickly there. Like I said, some of the dropped passes — people get hung on them even the one in the game that got intercepted, if I throw the ball in a better spot and he makes the catch, probably splits and scores. I threw it high and hard, and it gets tipped up and picked.
“People put it on him, but it’s really on me to make a better throw. For myself just try to make some better throws and let those guys have easier catches especially in traffic where they can make plays happen after the catch.”
A quarterback has to take risks sometimes and failing is part of the game. Of course, Mahomes didn’t use to get picked so much, which is why his 12 INTs after 13 weeks are such a surprise.
Still, not all of the turnovers are on Mahomes: dropped passes are often beyond his control. But if you only look at the figures, the QB will look accountable. Anyway,his assessment on this matter may help him get over this. And it’s always better to havea quarterback who has confidence in himself and doesn’t panick over a series of mistakes.