Patrick Mahomes divisional round review; Close to flawless
Looking at every snap of the Chiefs QB's wildly efficient game against the Bills
You know the drill. Every week (well, most weeks) I’ll be charting every dropback by Patrick Mahomes this year, just like I’ve done for… well, his whole career. As I laid out in the Week 1 film review (which is unlocked so you can see the methodology in more detail), statistical analysis of quarterbacks, especially in small sample sizes, doesn’t really tell us the whole story or even most of it. So I chart things that the QB can control, such as accuracy, pocket presence, franchise throws, going through reads, and more.
Do you know what’s harder than being incredible? Being flawless as well.
There’s a difference between the two, especially when discussing quarterback play. And ever since Robert Mays of the Athletic (who does great work) tweeted about Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in the Divisional Round, I can’t stop thinking about the distinction.
There should be no debate that Josh Allen played well against the Chiefs last Sunday. Even the word “incredible” is not an exaggeration, as he had multiple runs (and a few throws) that were just absolute cheat codes.
On the other side of the coin is Patrick Mahomes. I already wrote about Mahomes being the monster at the end of the book (especially for Bills fans) earlier this week, so I’ll try to refrain from too much commentary here. But the short story is that Mahomes, much like Allen, made multiple incredible plays on Sunday in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. This includes throws that were so precise that they look almost fake.
It’s worth noting that this pinpoint shot down the field was based on the pre-snap and post-snap read by Mahomes, a “hit the back foot and go” type of play. We’ll come back to that later. But for now, it has to be said that Mahomes was making amazing plays on his own Sunday.
But it goes beyond “just” being incredible for Mahomes. Because for the second straight playoff game, he not only was terrific at creating yardage when necessary… he was also (as Mays said it) virtually flawless. Being either of those things is highly difficult. Being both? Borderline impossible.
Let’s talk about Mahomes’ film against he Bills, how Playoff Mahomes is taking on a life of its own, and how much it matters to be flawless as well as incredible.
(In case you want to check out Mahomes’ prior film reviews, here you go. Yes, there’s no Week 14 or Week 17, I’m sorry!)
-Week 1 (UNLOCKED, lays out the terms and methodology)
-Week 3 (no article, but the numbers are there in a week he was virtually flawless)