The Kansas City Chiefs offense has looked unstoppable through the first two weeks of the season. Tearing apart the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 was what many people expected, but to find the level of success they did in a divisional game against the Los Angeles Chargers on short rest was impressive.
There was speculation coming into the season about whether or not the Chiefs’ offense would continue being as explosive as it has been with Tyreek Hill no longer in the mix. Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins this offseason for a boatload of draft picks and his loss was a big one. However, Kansas City may be even more dangerous now.
Instead of relying solely on Hill and tight end Travis Kelce to carry the load, they are spreading the ball around more, making it increasingly difficult for opponents to game plan against. Four players already have at least 10 targets on the season and another three have at least five.
Pinpointing who to take out of a player is tough, especially when it is Patrick Mahomes leading the offense. Mahomes is a wizard with the ball in his hands, able to contort his arm into different angles to sling the ball into tight windows with ease.
There is not much a defense can do to stop him, as they are just hoping he makes a mistake. He is incredible when playing against blitzes, as he actually gets better when facing pressure. When a player is forced off of his spot and to leave the pocket, the defense is normally at an advantage, but not against Mahomes and the Chiefs.
According to PFF, Mahomes is currently the highest-rated passer in the NFL outside of the pocket. It isn’t particularly close, either, as Mahomes has a grade of 90.5. The next closest is Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, who has a grade of 83.8.
Mahomes isn’t known as a scrambling quarterback, but he can get the job done with his legs when need be. That is evident in his production when he gets outside of the pocket. While he isn’t as much of a threat as someone such as Hurts, whose legs are his strength as a quarterback, he is still tearing defenses apart.
There really is no weakness to a Mahomes-led offense. Defenses just have to hope that he makes a mistake pre-snap or uncorks an off-target throw that they can take advantage of.
Some people wondered aloud if the league had figured him out last season a little bit, but that is clearly not the case. He is once again off to a hot start and defenses are going to have to adapt and find a way to limit the damage once again.
