Despite Poor Stats, Chiefs Remain Amazed by Patrick Mahomes: 'Coach on the Field'

Patrick Mahomes isn't having his typical Chiefs season numbers-wise, but Andy Reid and Creed Humphrey recognize his level of play as the best anyway.

Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) makes a pass attempt against the Las Vegas Raiders during the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Eight games into the 2024-25 campaign, Patrick Mahomes is off to quite easily his worst statistical start to a season in his career. The two-time NFL MVP has thrown more interceptions (9) than touchdowns (8), making some uncharacteristic mistakes early in the season and falling victim to plays out of his control in recent weeks.

It's been a weird year for Mahomes, who set a career-high in interceptions with 14 a season ago. Last year, lackluster supporting talent at wide receiver handcuffed the Kansas City Chiefs' offense and, in turn, Mahomes's play. Something similar took shape for parts of this season, except health has been the culprit. The team's top two wide receivers suffered long-term injuries, and JuJu Smith-Schuster remains banged up with a hamstring ailment. That's on top of running back Isiah Pacheco being out of the lineup, the left tackle situation being murky and Mahomes himself not playing his best football.

Simply put, Mahomes can be partially attributed for his poor stats but there's plenty of blame to go around. Despite the numbers, head coach Andy Reid looks past them and thinks Mahomes has handled everything very well.

"Again, he's been playing great football," Reid said. "You look back a couple years ago and teams would show you shell coverage and you had to kind of get used to that whole deal. Now he just sees it, handles it, gets it to his guys, gets the ball out of his hands. He's a great player, and he manages everything there. It's like having a coach on the field."

Entering Sunday's play, Mahomes ranks 23rd in passer rating and 13th in EPA per play among all signal-callers. With that said, his 66.9 QBR is seventh and his success rate is second in the sport. Additionally, he's stepping up when needed the most. In the fourth quarter, Mahomes is tied for first in EPA/play and his third and fourth down average is fourth among those with as many attempts as him. In clutch time, Mahomes is generally still Mahomes.

Center Creed Humphrey believes that's what makes him the best in the business.

"Yeah, he's been awesome," Humphrey said. "He's the best quarterback in the league for a reason. He's done a lot of good stuff in a lot of clutch moments already this year. Just watching him work and continue to work, growing relations with the newer receivers, things like that, it's been really good to see."

The consistent preparation and mindset Mahomes carries into each game is what also sets him apart, in Humphrey's eyes.

"He just has been for a while now," Humphrey said. "He's got the competitive angle to him that he always strives to be the best, he's always working to be the best. He's very detailed in what he does throughout the week, and it shows up on game day."

It's clear that even when Mahomes isn't performing at his ceiling, the Chiefs wouldn't rather have anyone else leading them. That's obvious, whether it's coming from teammates and coaches on the offensive side of the ball or those on defense. With wideout DeAndre Hopkins potentially seeing the field more in Week 9 and Mahomes being on the heels of one of his best games of the season, better days very well could be ahead.

That's icing on the cake for 7-0 Kansas City, which could spell doom for the rest of the NFL.

Read More: Joshua Uche Outlines Trade from Patriots to Chiefs, Tips Cap to New Organization