[ad_1]
KANSAS CITY, MONTH – In a way, everything was set in motion for Patrick Mahomes last season in the freezing dusk against the Denver Broncos.
With AFC West and their qualifying playoffs, the Kansas City Chiefs had the luxury of attending quarterback Alex Smith and playing Mahomes in Week 17. With a score of 24 and 2:45, Mahomes had his first chance. shine.
Mahomes, who completed four passes for 52 yards and converted twice in the third run, led the Chiefs to a back-to-back goal and a 27-24 win.
The leaders leaned over to exchange Smith and install Mahomes before this season even before arriving in Denver. But the way Mahomes handled business, both during the match and during the training week that preceded it, confirmed that fact.
"I like the way he does business," Reid said. "We were able to take him and bring him into this match all week long.What it did was that it allowed you to feel him on the road, every time, and I loved that that I had seen I think he handled things very well.Prepared to the "T" about it, he managed it very well.
"I came out of that saying," You know what? This kid is ready to go. He is ready to continue and lead. "
The Chiefs earned a rare double that week, working on two games at a time. Smith has been studying the playoff game plans with offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and assistant coach Brad Childress, while Mahomes is prepared for the Broncos with coach Andy Reid and assistant Mike Kafka.
That's right, Reid spent his time with Mahomes on a game that had no meaning for the ranking Chiefs, but not for their future. It was important for Reid to start his career well in the first round.
The Chiefs could not have hoped for a better situation, a chance for their talented beginner to prove themselves in tough times. And at that moment, Mahomes' behavior gave them confidence, everything would be fine.
"He just had this calm about him and that seems natural to him" Mitchell Schwartz said. "He has not been intimidated yet, and it's something you want to see on the road in Denver.
"In practice, when he's in the scouting team, he can run and run it without having to worry about the situation.The game is really when you learn how to handle pressure situations. Was a fun game, and it went well. "
Mahomes and the Chiefs are returning to Denver for the first time since that start, this time on Monday night's football. He's no longer a rookie trying his talents for the first time. Mahomes caused a stir at the start of the season with 13 touchdowns without interception, and the Chiefs are one of the last three undefeated teams in the NFL.
But nothing was certain last season towards Denver. Reid and Kafka adapted the game plan to Mahomes forces. They operated from the shotgun, as Mahomes had done almost exclusively at the university, on about half of their plays.
"I was able to … talk to him and see what he liked and with which he felt most comfortable," Reid said. "For this match, we shaped this game plan around him, Mike Kafka spent a lot of time with him while everyone else was sort of working on the playoff game. mold it around him. "
They made little effort to provide additional protection, using more than five blockers in seven of his 35 attempts.
Mahomes has not made a good start. He did not finish on three of his first four passes, but the Chiefs still took the lead on their first pass Kareem Hunt's 35-yard touchdown run. Mahomes threw his only interception on the next possession, shooting too high for De & Anthony Thomas. Mahomes later acknowledged that the overthrow was due to his excitement.
He settled after that and finished 22 out of 35 for 284 yards.
"He helped to call [plays] to my strengths, and we were successful and we came out with the win, "said Mahomes.
He showed his talent to make difficult passes a few times. He lost his footing due to the pressure and joined Albert Wilson between two defensemen for 19 years. Later, while he was retreating because of the pressure, he hit Demarcus Robinson for 12 yards between three Broncos.
"I was really impressed by how he came out of his pocket," said center Mitch Morse. "I did not know he had those legs on him, he was able to throw the ball in a strange and distorted way, [and that] was unbelievable. It's a playmaker. It was apparent. It was very special to see him go out and do some shopping together. "
If these throws were the signature games of the Mahomes game, the end was the most important sequence. Mahomes, having been removed from the game in the fourth quarter with the Chiefs 24-10 ahead, is reinstated for the final training.
"His abilities after something did not go well – he launched an early interception – he bounced back and led us to a goal on the field," said Kafka, who replaced Nagy as the quarterback coach this year. "Then he came back into the two-minute drills before winning the game." Throughout the match, he kept his cool and showed a lot of what he wanted to do. did a ton of checks at the line, operated and played and played to win the game.
"It goes to his competitive nature, and honestly, when he came home, we all knew we would go down and win, either to score a touchdown or score the winning goal."
Mahomes conquered Reid and the assistants that day. Perhaps more important was he having won the locker room. He was about to replace a popular veteran in Smith.
A first positive impression was long.
"This has consolidated his status and ability to lead a team in the future," said Schwartz. "Things went smoothly throughout the training week and you like it, which tells you he was doing things on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for the game.
"It sounded natural, it did not seem strange to us without Alex, it was like there was a very good quarter with you in the group, and things would turn out well."
Source link
