PFF data points to big flaw in Patrick Mahomes' game
There's no question that Patrick Mahomes is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But even the best quarterbacks have their flaws. It's not their fault. The NFL is designed to take advantage of an opponents' mistakes and weaknesses. That's how you win games. However, it's never good to be the best at being […]
There's no question that Patrick Mahomes is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
But even the best quarterbacks have their flaws.
It's not their fault. The NFL is designed to take advantage of an opponents' mistakes and weaknesses. That's how you win games.
However, it's never good to be the best at being the worst. And sometimes, players can contribute to their own problems.
That was the case for Mahomes and creating his own pressure in 2021.
Per Pro Football Focus, Mahomes created his own pocket dilemmas over the course of 24.4% of regular season dropbacks. This among quarterbacks with at least 104 allowed pressured dropbacks in 2021. That led the NFL, along with his 58 total created pressures that include a league-high 32 hurries and 11 quarterback hits among qualifying quarterbacks. He was responsible for 15 of his own sacks, which was second only to Zach Wilson of the New York Jets.
To put it into context: the next-highest marks in total pressures, hurries, and quarterback hits were 37, 19, and eight, respectively.
The following chart also adds a nice visual and really helps us understand just how "special" Mahomes was at creating his own problems last year:
Mahomes has acknowledged that he can try too hard to make things happen and that his desire for the big play resembles a counterproductive approach at times. People have brought up this topic, before. Now, more people -especially NFL teams- are noticing.
“There were times where I could’ve stepped and found a soft spot in the pocket — where I got out of there and tried to make things happen,” Mahomes said after the Chiefs' 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans in October. “Whenever we don’t get going as an offense, it’s because I’m doing little things like that. We have guys on the team to make plays happen every single drive — but I have to make sure I’m executing at a high level so those guys can have those opportunities.”
The good news is when things do work out the way he intends, they work out really well. And his escapability does in come handy. Mahomes was sacked just 28 times in 2021 and per PFF, opponents converted just 13.5% of their pressures into sacks in 2021. That number is good for the third-lowest rate in the NFL.
Mahomes did show improvement as the season went on, but this is certainly one area that he's going to have to continue to work on as the years progress.
Especially if the Chiefs want to continue to be one of the AFC's best.
Featured image via-Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
