Tag: chiefs bengals

VIDEO: Was the AFC Championship game Patrick Mahomes’ best NFL performance?

Was Sunday’s AFC Championship game the best performance of Patrick Mahomes’ NFL career? Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling discuss it.

In this week’s episode of “4-Down Territory,” powered by KIA, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire went over the idea that Sunday’s AFC Championship game was Patrick Mahomes’ ultimate NFL performance.

In the Chiefs’ 23-20 AFC Championship win over the Bengals, Patrick Mahomes completed 29 of 43 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 105.4. And he did it against a defense that had had his number in each of the last three times these teams played. Moreover, he did it on an obviously injured right ankle,and down multiple receivers due to injury. We’ve seen all kinds of amazing things from Mahomes since he started terrorizing the NFL in 2018, but was this the most impressive game of Mahomes’ NFL career? 

Doug: I think it was. It’s certainly in the top two or three. In this spotlight, against a defensive coordinator in Lou Anarumo who had taken his  lunch money over and over, and down four receivers due to injury, Mahomes took the field (just barely), and you could see as the game went on that whatever he took to make his performance possible in the first place was wearing off. He was more and more hampered as things went along. And still, he got it done as he hadn’t before against this team. 

The most remarkable turnaround came in the second half. The Bengals had made Mahomes look like an undrafted free agent in the second halves and overtime in the three previous Chiefs losses: He completed 25 passes on 44 attempts for 503 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 54.5. In the second half of this game, with his body and his receiver corps falling apart, Mahomes completed 16 of 24 passes for 161 yards, a touchdown, no picks, and a passer rating of 99.5. Mahomes doesn’t have a lot of demons to exorcize in his career, but he certainly took care of a few on Sunday. 

Patrick Mahomes redefined his greatness in this AFC Championship victory

Luke: Yeah, we’ve seen some otherworldly things from No. 15 already in his career, but this was so important. Just like you said, the recent history against the Bengals, the high stakes, the injuries (both his own and his teammates’)…he had every reason to fold and let Joe Burrow take another one from him in front of his own home crowd. Instead, he delivered the kind of gutsy performance we’ll be talking about for years to come, especially if the Chiefs go on to finish the job in Arizona.

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Bengals had better figure out Patrick Mahomes’ pre-snap motion commotion

The Chiefs are killing the Bengals’ defense with pre-snap motion, just as they did in Week 17.

In the first half of the AFC Championship game, Patrick Mahomes completed 18 of 21 passes for 220 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 149.9. Had the Bengals not stopped Kansas City’s potential touchdown drive at the Cincinnati one-yard line with time expired in the first half, this could be an even bigger blowout than the 21-10 score would indicate.

One reason for this? The Chiefs are absolutely demolishing Cincinnati’s defense with pre-snap motion, and it hasn’t been subtle. From the NFL Network’s Scott Hanson:

Mahomes’ third touchdown pass was a nice example of how this offense sets opposing defenses on their heels with motion. Mecole Hardman moved from left to right pre-snap, and that was that.

There are many reasons for this. First, the Chiefs are brilliant at scheming openings with motion — they know how to displace defenders with it, and it also gives Mahomes pre-snap indicators.

There’s also the fact that the Bengals have been really, really bad against motion this season.

Including the postseason coming into this game, per Sports Info Solutions, Mahomes had by far the most dropbacks with pre-snap motion with 524 — Tom Brady ranks second with 421, so it isn’t even close. And with pre-snap motion, Mahomes has completed 332 of 469 passes for 3,575 yards, 1,325 air yards, 32 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a passer rating of 106.7.

Here’s where the matchup does not favor the Bengals at all. Including the postseason, Cincinnati’s defense has allowed 192 completions on 272 attempts for 2,108 yards, 12 touchdowns, two interceptions, and an opponent QBR of 104.8.

When these two teams faced off in Week 17, and the Bengals eked out a 34-31 win, Mahomes completed 17 of 22 passes with pre-snap motion for 122 yards, and both of his touchdowns. The only hope the Bengals have here is that in the second half of that game, Mahomes completed five of six passes with motion for just 24 yards. The Bengals moved to more really deep two-deep coverage in the second half of that game; perhaps that’s what we’ll see from here on out.

What we do know is that if the Bengals don’t figure this out, their season is decidedly over.