Small sample sizes are never a good foundation for an article.
At least, they usually are not.
But sometimes they can buttress an opinion that most people already hold, and serve as yet more evidence that your eyes are not deceiving you. In this case, the opinion is this: The right arm of Patrick Mahomes remains football’s ultimate weapon. Sure, there are other players in the NFL who bring a unique talent to the sport. Lamar Jackson’s legs. Tyreek Hill’s speed. Tom Brady’s mind.
Yet Mahomes’ arm stands out.
In re-watching his 2020 season this week I charted Mahomes with eight passing attempts of 40 air yards or more. Of those eight attempts, four of the throws fell incomplete.
The other four went for touchdowns.
On these passes Mahomes was four-of-eight for 222 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. That stands for an NFL passer rating of 135.42. Not perfect, but darn near close.
Forget mechanics, progression reads and all that other stuff. Mahomes is absurdly good at throwing a football. Sure, we will see some manipulation on these throws, but his arm is just a pure threat on any given play.
Here are those four touchdowns, which illustrate what you probably already know: The right arm of Patrick Mahomes is football’s ultimate weapon.