The under-the-radar mistake Patrick Mahomes keeps making that the Lions can take advantage of
The Lions can bite Mahomes on some of these throws he’s making
I believe it was Bush who said it’s the little things that kill. That happens in the NFL, too. It’s not always the massive stuff that can cause a loss; sometimes it’s the things you don’t really think about that can hurt you a lot if someone finds a way to capitalize on it. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has something like that, and the Detroit Lions can burn him with it.
Patrick Mahomes leads the league in overthrown passes, and Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch can burn him with it
Interestingly enough, Mahomes leads the league in underthrown balls, too. He’s tied with Jared Goff and Michael Penix in that spot. It’s hard to really understand what TruMedia is qualifying underthrown balls as though. But overthrows are easy to figure out.
The reason I bring up Joseph and Branch as the guys who can take advantage of this is that you have to think about the bulk of interceptions you’ve seen these guys get. They’re typically on overthrown balls that sail over receivers and cornerbacks and into the hands of the safeties.
So what is this? Is Mahomes struggling with accuracy right now? We asked our Chiefs beat writer, Charles Goldman, what’s up. Here’s what he had to say.
“A primary emphasis for the Chiefs throughout the offseason was revitalizing their deep passing game, which just hasn’t quite been the same since the team traded away Tyreek Hill. However, just like the 2024 season, their plans with the deep passing game were upended at the start of the year with a significant injury to a wide receiver. Last season, it was Hollywood Brown, and this year, it was an injury to WR Xavier Worthy just three plays into the season. That has led to the deep passing game being run through Tyquan Thornton, who is still developing chemistry with Patrick Mahomes. This isn’t a matter of Mahomes throwing errant and wildly inaccurate passes or even him pressing. He’s definitely not putting the football in harm’s way. The deep misses so far have mostly been a result of not having their top weapons on the field for three of the first five games of the season.”
So while it’s not an accuracy issue, it’s still an issue, and those balls are still being overthrown. The Lions have been doing really well with takeaways this year. They’ll need to make sure they continue that trend against Mahomes and the Chiefs to keep things going their way this season.
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