Patrick Mahomes looks like a shell of himself, even with Chiefs winning

The Chiefs held a 13-0 lead over the Packers at halftime in Week 9 but Patrick Mahomes continued to look miles away from his MVP form. 

If we’re trying to be positive, the Kansas City Chiefs came out in Week 9 and opened up a 13-0 lead over the 7-1 Packers in the first half. For a team that is facing must-win situations every week at this point, that’s good. But if you were watching Patrick Mahomes and the totality of the game, the positives overall are difficult to find.

Kansas City built that lead largely thanks to the ineffectiveness of Jordan Love, starting in place of Aaron Rodgers after his positive COVID-19 diagnosis, and several special teams blunders by Green Bay. Mahomes, for his part, was barely helping the cause.

Going into halftime, Mahomes had thrown for just 79 yards (less than the struggling Love) and was averaging an abysmal 3.3 yards per attempt. He looked much more like a backup being protected by the offense than a former MVP.

And though his turnover woes didn’t continue in the first half, he got lucky for that to be the case as Kevin King had one right in his hands but couldn’t secure it.

Frankly, Patrick Mahomes looks broken and nothing like the superstar we’ve seen in recent years.

What happened to Patrick Mahomes?

There isn’t an overarching answer to cure what has ailed Patrick Mahomes in Week 9 or on the 2021 season.

Part of it is certainly the play-calling. The Chiefs, widely renowned for their explosive offense since Mahomes took over as the starting quarterback, have become a dink-and-dunk team. They are looking for the checkdown and, for whatever reason, that’s even leading to Mahomes missing Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill in open areas down the field.

Another aspect falls squarely on the quarterback, as well. Mahomes’ footwork and decision-making have been wildly sloppy this season. Those were concerns when he came out of Texas Tech but, obviously, he quelled them prior to the 2021 campaign. But what we’re seeing this year looks like the worst kind of regression.

Beyond that, though you can never wholly confirm this, it looks as if Patrick Mahomes is just pressing. With the Chiefs’ and his own struggles, it seems as if the quarterback is trying to be a superhero. When that happens, it can lead to poor throws, poor decisions and just bad looks. And we’re seeing all that from Mahomes.

The big question for the Chiefs, though, isn’t what happened — it’s how they fix this with Patrick Mahomes moving forward.