A season of many trials and tribulations for the Kansas City Chiefs has left quarterback Patrick Mahomes at an inflection point after a tough loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17. A reporter asked him what his biggest area of growth has been this year, to which Mahomes responded with an answer that might surprise those who have viewed his meteoric rise to success from a distance.
“I think the biggest area of growth is that I’ve just learned to be patient,” He said. “I’ve learned to take what’s there, take the underneath stuff, probably the most I’ve ever thrown to the running backs and stuff like that. I have such an aggressive nature and want to push the ball down the field, but defenses have forced me to learn how to drive the length of the field and I think we’ve done a great job of that as the season’s gone on.
“We’ve made a lot of big drives happen and drove the length of the field, but we haven’t lost our explosiveness and when defenses do present man coverage or safety middle zone coverage where they come down and give us a chance to throw it deep, I think we’re still hitting those. Finding that right balance, I think that’s been a big growth for me to learn to take what’s there but keep that aggressiveness.”
Harnessing the talent and desire to make the explosive plays that get him on Sportscenter on a weekly basis will be his life’s work during his time in the NFL. Room for improvement is a beautiful thing for a 26-year-old former MVP quarterback, and in Mahomes’ case, it could be the difference between one or multiple championship wins.
As the league adjusts to his ability to take over games, so too must Mahomes refine his craft to stay on the cutting edge of the offensive race-of-arms. Stiff competition awaits in the playoffs, and he’ll need to capitalize on the points he made in his Tuesday press conference to keep Kansas City’s hopes of a third consecutive Super Bowl berth afloat.
If he can figure out how to do the little things right on every snap, the Chiefs could be nearly unbeatable at the end of the regular season.