Patrick Mahomes is hurting his GOAT legacy as the interceptions stack up

“Not playing well”
Missed opportunities
Back to the basics
Worrying signs
Protect the ball
“Take care of business”
Keep things in perspective
Not his best day
Regression?
“Can’t happen”
Cleaning things up
No need to panic
More tests to come
“Not playing well”

Patrick Mahomes has claimed, “I feel like I haven’t been playing well” through the first three weeks of the season, with the Chiefs quarterback throwing a series of avoidable interceptions that could prove costly as the season continues.

Missed opportunities

Mahomes continued, “I just feel like I’m missing opportunities whenever they’re out there. Not throwing the ball to the exact spot I wanted to,” in his post-game press conference following his side's victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football.

Back to the basics

Mahomes finished by saying, “I gotta get my base right. I think I’m trusting my arm too much in some of those passes. I gotta get back to my fundamentals,” in an interesting claim for a player who has made a career from making throws despite not having a perfect platform.

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Worrying signs

Patrick Mahomes has thrown a couple of terrible interceptions to start the 2024 NFL season, and despite his Kansas City Chiefs team getting over the line in all three, Mahomes needs to clean up his uncharacteristic mistakes, otherwise his reputation as one of the NFL's GOATs will take a hit.

Protect the ball

Andy Reid’s warning was a shot at Mahomes’ uncharacteristic interceptions that have plagued his early season performances, with Reid saying, “Turnovers, they finish you,” to reporters at a Monday press conference.

“Take care of business”

Reid continued, saying, “They [turnovers] seldom give you an opportunity to win the game. We came out with a win, but we’ve got to take care of business there,” per Martín O'Donnell for Bolavip US.

 

Keep things in perspective

Reid’s comments come after the Chiefs eked out a 26-25 win over AFC title rivals the Bengals. The Chiefs needed a late Harrison Butker field goal to ensure the win, with Reid keen for his team, and quarterback, not to get too excited by the result given their on-field performance.

Not his best day

For his part, Mahomes didn’t look at his best, throwing for just 151 yards on 18/25 passing. The larger concern for Mahomes is the two interceptions he threw, one, a brilliant play by Bengals defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt was excusable, the other was far more avoidable.

Regression?

Mahomes’ interceptions are possibly becoming more of a concern for the Chiefs as he has now thrown three on the season after a personal high of 14 last season. Ultimately, Mahomes and his team are still the best side in football, but if the interceptions continue, his GOAT status could well take a hit and his team will find winning more difficult.

“Can’t happen”

Mahomes was the first to admit to his mistakes, telling reporters, “I thought we did a lot of good things, but the turnovers can’t happen, after the game on Sunday.”

Cleaning things up

Mahomes continued, “We’re going to clean up the mistakes on offense... it starts with me. We’ll be a better team for it moving forward.”

No need to panic

The Chiefs have now played the Ravens and the Bengals to start their season and have beaten them both, which should help them in their battle for the number one seed in the AFC, which has proven all-important since the introduction of the new playoff format.

More tests to come

Andy Reid’s team now faces off against the Falcons on Sunday night before matchups against the Chargers, Saints, and 49ers. All of those teams have started the season well, making this an important stretch for the Chiefs as they look to win a third Super Bowl in a row.  Reid's warning to Mahomes should be enough to kick the Chief's QB back into gear, otherwise those claiming Mahomes is better than Tom Brady will be struggling to find a good argument!

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