Patrick Mahomes Is Still “The Guy” in the AFC West
Video 8/10/22
The Self-Awareness of Patrick Mahomes
Yes, Patrick Mahomes is coming off playing the worst half of football of his career against Cincinnati. That day, he was playing not to lose the game. He was not his usual playing to win, letting it go self.
Just today, I saw an article in which Mahomes acknowledged that he did not play the game to win, rather he played not to lose and played tight. This shows that the young man has self-awareness. He understands who he is as a player and what he is about.
A Change of Scenery
Most of Mahomes’ targets are gone, with the exception of Travis Kelce. Tyreek Hill is gone, and Mahomes now has to rebuild with Marques Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Neither is coming off of an up-year. Some rookies are being added to the mix as potential weapons for Mahomes as well.
What is most interesting is the way Andy Reid and General Manager Brett Veach approached acclimating Patrick Mahomes with this new group of receivers. They canceled some offseason activities because they know Mahomes will take care of it. Meaning, that this new group of receivers was going to go work out with Mahomes in Texas. They were going to spend time together, learn the offense, bond, and grow as a unit.
That is Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers territory. Organizations have not given them the greatest set of receivers year in and year out, but they figured that these quarterbacks could bring the best out of the receivers and more than make do with who they have around them.
Mahomes Will Take Care of It
When you have that kind of trust in your quarterback, even coming off the worst half of playoff football he has played, that speaks volumes.
After being at Kansas City training camp once before and asking about a certain issue, someone in the organization told me, “Don’t worry, 15 will take care of it.” That is how they feel about Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City.