The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs are 9-1 by way of 10 video games and management their very own future to earn the No. 1 seed within the AFC playoffs, however Patrick Mahomes is way from the primary motive why. Following Kansas Metropolis’s Week 11 loss to the Buffalo Payments, their first defeat of the season, it is time to violate an NFL taboo and criticize one of the best quarterback on the planet.
Mahomes could also be one of the best within the enterprise, however he hasn’t performed prefer it all season. The Chiefs quarterback has career-worst marks in passing yards per sport (240.4), passer ranking (90.3), landing charge (4.4 p.c) and interception charge (3.2 p.c). His numbers look even worse when in comparison with different high QBs across the league.
By 10 video games, Mahomes is tied for the lead within the NFL in interceptions (11) and ranks eleventh in passing yards (2,404) and tenth in passing touchdowns (15). Sam Darnold (Minnesota), Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets) and Jordan Love (Inexperienced Bay) — who has solely performed eight video games — have thrown extra landing passes than Mahomes this season.
However let’s dig actually deep. Per Rbsdm, Mahomes ranks twelfth within the NFL in EPA+CPOE composite, a brand new superior stat that measures QB play. That places him behind Darnold, New Orleans’ Derek Carr and Arizona’s Kyler Murray.
Essentially the most telling stat of all, although, is Mahomes’ 5.9-yard common depth of goal, which ranks thirty fourth out of 35 certified QBs. New England’s Jacoby Brissett, Las Vegas’ Gardner Minshew and even Cleveland’s Deshaun Watson, who was horrible this season earlier than a season-ending damage, have pushed the ball down the sphere greater than Mahomes this season.
The best quarterback of this era has changed into the checkdown king earlier than our very eyes, which is why the Chiefs rank sixteenth within the NFL in complete offense and nineteenth in yards per play.
You possibly can blame these numbers on Kansas Metropolis’s lack of weapons, however that does not appear truthful. “Washed-up” Travis Kelce ranks second amongst all tight ends in catches (62) and fourth in receiving yards (507). Wideout DeAndre Hopkins regarded greater than succesful when he put up 86 yards and two touchdowns in simply his second sport with the crew. Mahomes related with Kelce and Hopkins a mixed 5 occasions for 37 complete yards in opposition to the Payments, resulting in Kansas Metropolis’s first lack of the season.
Mahomes has averted criticism all season due to defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the Chiefs protection. Earlier than this week, Kansas Metropolis ranked fifth within the NFL in complete protection and factors allowed per sport. The protection lastly cracked in Week 11, giving up 30 factors to the Payments, and Mahomes was unable to pay Spagnuolo again for all of the occasions he has bailed out the offense this season.
Coming into Week 11, the Chiefs ranked No. 1 within the NFL in luck ranking (3.0), per Staff Rankings. No different crew within the league had a luck ranking increased than 1.7.
Mahomes has escaped criticism this season as a result of his crew gained, however Kansas Metropolis’s luck is lastly beginning to run out. If Mahomes cannot flip round his disappointing season, the Chiefs will not be capable to maintain onto the No. 1 seed and home-field benefit within the AFC.
