Chiefs coach Andy Reid reveals why Patrick Mahomes struggled against the Titans in Week 7
Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are facing an uphill battle to qualify for the playoffs this year, as the Chiefs sit at 3-4 and are having major difficulties.
The Chiefs' quarterback has now thrown a pick in six straight games, 16 over his last 16 games, and leads the NFL in interceptions this year, tied with Zach Wilson. Mahomes is not the biggest problem about this Kansas City season, but it's not like he's doing much to overcome the hurdles, either.
Mahomes can't play defense or fix the team's issues, but he needs to improve if the Chiefs still want to contend for the Super Bowl, especially with regards to ball security. He's clearly struggling at the moment.
Mahomes is dangerously close to that point where Aaron Rodgers was a few years ago where he thinks he can salvage anything into a big play outside the pocket so he's turning down a lot of realistic opportunities within the structure of the offense
"It's not one thing" - Andy Reid on Mahomes' struggles
During Monday's press conference, Reid talked about why Patrick Mahomes is having so many difficulties this season, and why his quarterback couldn't play at his usual level against the Titans on Week 7:
"The Titans have a good defensive front, and we put ourselves in a position where we had to throw the ball. You do that against a good defensive front, there will be some pressure, you got to work through it, and then he'll get out of the pocket and do what he does. I can only tell you that we all need to get better on this. It's always good to get after the quarterback or get after a specific area. It's not one thing right now. It's a handful or two handfuls of things that we've got to get straight. And that's coaching, and that's playing.
Reid was 100% right. The Chiefs couldn't stop anything the Titans threw at them, and as a result, they had to play from behind. The first four offensive drives from Tennessee ended with TD-TD-FG-TD, respectively. Every time your defense allows this, you're in for a long day.
If the defense can't stop a single thing, then you're obviously going to throw the ball more, and when the defense knows you're going to abandon the run, they can react quicker to your plays and defend better. Unidimensional offenses are a big problem for any team, even if you have Mahomes under center with Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce downfield.
Patrick Mahomes has been blitzed on just 10.7% of his dropbacks this season, the lowest rate in the NFL by a significant margin.
Mahomes has thrown 30 of his 33 career interceptions when the defense doesn't blitz.
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Andy Reid says "the obvious" has got to be fixed
It doesn't take a football expert to see that the Chiefs and Mahomes are struggling right now, and the coach didn't want to go into detail:
"Without going into a whole lot of detail because we still got a lot of games here to play, the obvious, I think, is what you guys can see, and that's got to be fixed. If it's fixed, you'll have a chance to win every football game. If it's not fixed, then you're going to struggle."