The 2021 season was a tale of two halves for the Kansas City Chiefs. The team slumped to a 3-4 record at the start of the regular season but then won nine of their next ten games to finish 12-5 and win the AFC West. Unfortunately, the Chiefs’ quest for a third Super Bowl appearance in as many years was cut short in the second half of the AFC Championship against Cincinnati.
For the Chiefs, this past season was filled triumphs and disappointments. The same could be said for the type of season quarterback Patrick Mahomes had. No QB had an unexpectedly adverse start to the season than the fifth-year veteran, and the end to his ’21 campaign was just as brutal.
It wasn’t all bad, but 2021 was not the typical season of perfection we’ve gotten used to seeing out of Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense. The face of Kansas City’s locker room set career highs in turnovers and times sacked.
That said, from a statistical standpoint, this past season wasn’t Mahomes’ worst. In seventeen regular-season games, Mahomes completed 436 out of 658 of his passes or 4,839 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. All while leading the Chiefs to a 12-5 record to win a sixth-consecutive AFC West crown.
During postseason play, he connected on 89 out of 122 throws for 1,057 yards, 11 touchdowns, and three interceptions as the Chiefs went on an exciting run back to the AFC Championship.
However, if we’re grading Mahomes’ overall performance from this past season, then it can be assessed that he was inconsistent during the early stages of the regular season and in the second half of the AFC Championship. At different points of the 2021 campaign, there have been several instances where Mahomes appeared to be erratic with the ball, especially when opposing defenses send most of their defensive backs and linebackers deep in coverage.
There have also been situations where Mahomes is seen pressing to make a highlight play. Instead of resorting to his check down or making the ‘safe throw,’ he panics and chucks the ball up for an incompletion or a cheap turnover, or he takes a sack for a huge loss. This happened so often that Mahomes was hit 58 times and sacked 28 times, the most he’s been sacked thus far in his career, and committed 17 total turnovers.
Early on during the start of the season, the collective struggles of Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense could be excused as a result of the team’s recently rehauled offensive line not fully gelling. It’s easy to look at the o-line whenever the quarterback is struggling, but that stopped being the case as the season progressed and the o-line continuously improved. However, the lack of a third receiving option became more apparent with every game.
This year, it was pretty clear that the Chiefs missed wide receiver Sammy Watkins and they didn’t have anybody to take the defense’s attention away from Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce.
Initially, the team hoped for Mecole Hardman or Byron Pringle to step into into the role, but that didn’t happen. Thus, making things easy for opposing defensive coordinators to find ways to gameplan against Kansas City’s two offensive weapons.
Not having Hill or Kelce to immediately throw to, gor some reason, led to Mahomes having a hard to decide where he wants to go with the football in some situations. The second half of the AFC Championship game was a demonstration of that.
Overall, Mahomes had a decent 2021 campaign. The Chiefs’ offense still ranked 3rd in total offense and 4th in passing. His stats were still on par with past seasons, he led his team through adversity from the 3-4 start to make the AFC Championship. During the postseason, he helped deliver one of the most exciting victories in recent memory against Buffalo in the AFC Divisional round, and his production was good enough to earn a nod to the Pro Bowl.
It’s no doubt Mahomes had a bit of an off-year after making two Super Bowls, but with the talent the team has on offense and the upgrades the front office is sure to make over the offseason, he’ll be poised to make another run at the Super Bowl in 2022
