New Chargers edge-rusher Khalil Mack made quite an impression on his new team in Los Angeles’ season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders. The veteran had three sacks, one quarterback hit, and one quarterback hurry, and he was pretty much unblockable a lot of time in conjunction with pass-rushing bookend Joey Bosa.
Against the Chiefs on Thursday night, Mack wanted to get on the board again in a hurry, and he did. With 5:19 left in the first quarter, the Chargers presented Patrick Mahomes with what looked like a six-man blitz. This would seem unwise, as Mahomes tore the Arizona Cardinals’ blitz packages up to a point where we had to put Arizona defensive coordinator Vance Joseph in our list of the worst coaching decisions of Week 1.
Patrick Mahomes was blitzed on over half of his dropbacks (54%) for the first time in his career.
Mahomes threw a career-high 4 TD passes vs the blitz, tied for the most in a game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).#KCvsARI | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/BaelGfAFlZ
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 11, 2022
So. Mahomes may have thought he had a free pass here. But he didn’t.
Drue Tranquill and Khalil Mack get home for the sack! #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/nzrNdkWq5s
— Pro Football Culture (@proftblculture) September 16, 2022
At the snap, Chargers edge-rusher Chris Rumph and defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day dropped into coverage, leaving four rushers to get to Mahomes. Linebacker Drue Tranquill came through the middle on the simulated pressure — where you drop defenders you’d expect to pressure and vice versa — and because the sim pressure messed with Kansas City’s protections, Mack came off the left side of the defense totally unblocked.
If you want to get to Patrick Mahomes, the blitz is NOT the way to do it. As is the case in coverage, you have to show him one thing before the snap, and then do something else after. Head coach Brandon Staley and his staff did a great job of switching Mahomes up in this case.