Patrick Mahomes Unbothered by Sacks vs. Chargers: ‘It’s a Part of Football'

Patrick Mahomes was sacked at least three times for the third game in a row, but the Kansas City Chiefs' superstar QB doesn't seem too worried about it.

Dec 8, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is sacked by Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

In year No. 8 in the NFL and his seventh as the Kansas City Chiefs' full-time starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes has been tested as much as ever. In addition to both of his projected top wide receivers either going down early in the season or not making it to that point at all, the two-time MVP has dealt with questionable offensive tackle play for the better part of the year.

Recent weeks have seen that trend make a turn for the worse. Heading into Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Mahomes was sacked five times in back-to-back games. In just 12 contests, he'd already been taken down a career-high 32 times with several weeks left to spare. After averaging just 1.7 sacks per game in Weeks 1-8, that number spiked to four per outing in Weeks 9-13.

Week 14 resulted in Mahomes losing eight yards on sacks – the second-lowest total of his season – but getting brought down by the Los Angeles defense three times. That's not even counting how many instances where pressures led to hits right around the time he released the football.

Despite taking a beating against a bitter division rival, Mahomes isn't worried. He thinks it simply comes with the territory of facing impressive defenses.

“I mean, it’s a part of football, you just play the game," Mahomes said. "We’ve played a lot of good defenses this year. That’s the one bad thing about when you win the Super Bowl, you play the best schedule, and we’ve played a lot of good defensive ends and defensive linemen. I think for myself, it’s just finding the soft spot in the pocket. I feel like on some of the early third downs I was kind of running into where they were looping to [and] they had a plan for me escaping the pocket. So, just trying to find that soft spot, I thought I did better at that as the game went on and then I was able to make the run at the end. Working the new guy (D.J. Humphries) in [and] trusting in those other guys. I think we’re going to be hitting the ground running as the playoffs come ahead.”

Mahomes does make a solid point about the Chargers' defense, which now ranks fifth in the sport in sacks. Facing Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack was always going to be a tall task, even before adding a new tackle into the mix on the left side of the line. With that said, five-sack allowances to the Carolina Panthers (28th in sacks) and Las Vegas Raiders (22nd) in the last month must be accounted for. This has been an issue for a while now.

No singular figure can be blamed, even with the aforementioned left tackle position struggling immensely. There's plenty of context to go around. For example, Mahomes struggled with his pocket presence in the first half of play (as he alluded to) and the Chargers seemed to frequently deploy a spy to keep him from extending plays with his legs. In certain situations both on Sunday and this season in general, coverage has held up well and left the all-world quarterback without many open options on plays. Adding in the inconsistent tackle help makes for a lethal combination at times. Something has to give, though, as a pair of third-down sacks saw two of the Chiefs' first three offensive drives stall out.

That's where the pickup of Humphries and Mahomes's self-awareness come in. While Week 15 brings a matchup against a Cleveland Browns defense that ranks outside the top 10 in sacks, Myles Garrett will provide a significant challenge in his own right.

With another week to potentially get the newcomer at left tackle acclimated and Mahomes being cognizant of his spacing, the reigning champs will get back to work and look to keep the face of the franchise clean down the stretch.

Read More: Four Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs' 19-17 Win Over the Los Angeles Chargers