Patrick Mahomes report card: Fine start to season vs. Texans

Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was solid in his 2020 debut against the Houston Texans. We have his full, weekly report card and analysis.

The NFL’s season opener was much-needed after Covid-19 has ransacked much of 2020 already. Many doubted we’d even get a season started, but the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans put on a show for us. The defending champions won comfortably with a 34-20 final score.

Throughout the 2020 season we’ll be tracking and grading quarterback Patrick Mahomes as we start chronicling one of the most talented passers of all time. The mesmerizing star is extremely unique with his intelligence, playmaking, flair and incredible arm talents. Even at 24 years old it’s clear we have the opportunity to see a full career of greatness.

His statistical performance against the Texans was solid but unspectacular. He completed 24-of-32 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns. His only sack came in the first quarter.

We’re looking beyond the stat sheet to analyze Mahomes this season. I’ve been charting catchable passes for the last six years for collegiate quarterback prospects, and the results have brought solid baselines in key areas of accuracy to project NFL success. Mahomes benefitted from this, and the project is partially why I was so high on him as a prospect.

We’ll be grading him on playmaking, decision-making, accuracy, efficiency, and awareness in addition to tracking his directional and situational passing effectiveness.

Playmaking: C

The usual Mahomes performance has several jaw-dropping throws that come off crazy platforms but deliver the ball on the money. This week only had one attempt that fit that description, and it was a dropped touchdown by Demarcus Robinson.

Mahomes rolled left off the play-action with Tyreek Hill involved as the fake pitch-man. This opened up Robinson’s path to space on a crossing route as Bradley Roby followed Hill in man coverage, and it appeared that Travis Kelce came open on a curl route as well. Mahomes wisely chose the more open man, but was punished with the second of three total drops and second dropped touchdown by Robinson.

The playmaking was obvious here despite the result. His body is falling left, and his arm drops to a sideways angle to get the ball around a flailing defender. The pass is on the money and is reasonably catchable.

Mahomes is usually excellent outside of the pocket in terms of efficiency and big plays. We didn’t see it much this week, with only four pass attempts coming outside of the tackle box. He was accurate on all four, but this was the lone notable attempt that required him to make a play.

A “C” is average, and Mahomes did what was expected of him. But don’t fret, he made up for the lack of big creation with positive marks elsewhere.

Decision-Making: B

We saw two sides of Mahomes’ decision-making in this game, and some of the sloppiness is likely due to the mixture of great coverage from the Texans on deeper routes, and the fact the team hadn’t played a game yet. It’s important to note that Mahomes had one interception negated by a penalty, and two others that defenders almost reeled in on an intermediate under-throw, and one on an overthrow in the red zone.

Usually the dropped interceptions would weigh heavily in a grade, but both plays would’ve required amazing efforts from defenders. In those instances I don’t chalk them up as dropped interceptions, but they hurt his overall grade because they were still reckless attempts.

The vast majority of his attempts highlighted his exquisite pre-read ability and fast judgment. His mind is the key to his success, not just his rare physical traits. He quickly picks up blitzes and knows exactly where his favorable matchup will be at almost all times.

27 of his 32 attempts came 10 yards or under, and eight were behind the line of scrimmage. Some may look at that as a negative but Mahomes continually took what came open because of the pressure being created by the Texans’ defensive front. Eric Fisher wasn’t playing his best and was beaten several times, and Mahomes continually avoided the rush by dumping the ball off quickly.

He nickel-and-dimed the Texans to death, including an excellent eight-of-nine on third downs. Though he only threw past the markers twice in those situations, he was able to move the sticks thanks to his timing and accuracy to allow receivers to get upfield.

Like the above example, Mahomes’ ability to know exactly where the ball needs to go and when is crippling to a defense. A perfectly executed blitz didn’t matter; the back was in space and had the advantage because Mahomes already set himself up for success prior to the snap.

Accuracy: B+

Just four of Mahomes’ passes were completely uncatchable on the night and two were near-interceptions but fell incomplete. Only five of his 32 attempts went beyond the 10-yard mark through the air. In total, Mahomes’ performance boiled down to his short-game execution and excellent timing to thread needles and beat an aggressive defense.

His quick-motion and fast eyes paid off handsomely all evening despite the Texans’ best efforts to disguise their coverage calls. They tried to hide their man assignments when the Chiefs sent motion, and their zone was thickly built to limit downfield opportunities. The strategy technically worked, but Mahomes’ precision was too good.

He continually made throws like the one above. A quick fake to the back, and an immediate pull and toss with velocity into the belly of his target. It’s almost impossible to stop unless a defender reads it early and happens to bait the quarterback, or a pass-rusher gets a hand on the pass.

Mahomes’ arm angles help prevent the latter scenario.

He had a couple of errant attempts that had too much air underneath them, but the bigger reason he earned less than an A is the lack of downfield attempts. His accuracy was very good but wasn’t overly challenged to push his skill set.

Efficiency: A

It’s hard to complain about Mahomes’ efficiency when he missed on only five attempts all night. Even considering the average depth of target was much lower than his usual output, he took advantage of the leverage the defense gave him repeatedly. The Chiefs could’ve hung 40 on the Texans and they barely pushed the envelope with big plays.

It’s amazing to think Mahomes would’ve had four passing touchdowns if Robinson hadn’t let this one hit him in the hands before falling to the ground. Few people would’ve guessed he’d attempt only two passes beyond 20 yards all night. The fact he didn’t need to only reinforces how efficient he was.

That efficiency extended into play under pressure, the red zone, off play-action and on third downs. He threw an accurate pass on eight of nine pressured plays, including his touchdown to Hill on the rollout. His red zone numbers were similarly great: eight of nine with two touchdowns.

Awareness: B+

There’s not many critiques about Mahomes’ first game of the season, but leaving all but two of his nine third-down attempts short of the sticks was unlike him. While he deserves credit for still connecting on these clutch drive-deciding plays, he could’ve been more aggressive.

He still earns a major positive grade here though as he dodged defenders and maneuvered inside the pocket well. The lone sack of the night was unavoidable, and he escaped the pocket only when necessary. He resisted the urge to take on too much of the burden and that’s key for his sustainability.

He consistently made the right reads, knew where his man would be, and anticipated the pressure without panicking. It was an elite mental showcase against a tremendously talented defense. The Texans deserve massive credit for assembling this opportunistic bunch but they didn’t look it as Mahomes diced them up with his plethora of playmakers.

This was an excellent start to the season for Mahomes. He wasn’t Superman because he didn’t have to be. And that needs to be the tone for the Chiefs to repeat as Super Bowl champions.