KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It’s often been said that football teams improve the most between Weeks 1 and 2.
This season, that could even be true for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes – not so much from a statistical or record standpoint, but from a rhythm and overall feel standpoint since returning from major knee surgery.
“This game I felt more comfortable with myself being able to take hits and step in and make the throws within the pocket,” Mahomes said Wednesday. “That first game, it’s like any other preseason game. I had never played that much without playing in the preseason. Usually, you go in the preseason you play one drive and you’re done after that, whereas I was playing an entire game.
“So getting those reps helped me feel more comfortable this week and working on my fundamentals a little bit so I’m not over striding and having the right base in the pocket and it paid off.”
Mahomes threw for 382 yards and three touchdowns against the Colts just six days after he threw for two touchdowns and ran for another against the Broncos in the season-opener. Mahomes had been practicing since training camp but there’s still no comparison to playing in a game.
Mahomes had some nerves and knocked off some rust in the opener, but against the Colts it was largely vintage Mahomes.
“I took a big jump mentally being able to trust and be in the pocket and stuff like that,” Mahomes said. “There’s still times where you could tell I was rushing up and trying to throw the ball away quickly when there was other opportunities to step up in the pocket and find a check down. So that’s stuff I’ll continue to work with but definitely felt a lot more comfortable and I think running the ball so well the first week allowed me to see stuff and it became clear.”
The Chiefs’ running game has kicked into another gear with the addition of Kenneth Walker III, who rushed for 173 yards against the Broncos and 117 yards against the Colts. The run game has also given Mahomes, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy a new weapon — the play-action pass.
“It’s got to be a great balance that we have to have of being able to run it, run it, run it and play action at the right time,” Mahomes said. “And I thought Coach Bieniemy and Coach Reid did a great job of calling the perfect play action, the perfect movement plays at the perfect time so I had guys open to throw to. And we’ll continue to get better at that and continue to run the football as well.”
Two weeks into the season, Reid said he liked what he’s seen from Mahomes but noted there’s still room for improvement.
“He’s a great player that got hurt,” Reid said. “And it’s a matter of getting back in the swing and getting your timing down He’s got the same guys he’s been throwing to for a little bit and he’s got comfort in that, too. And he’s feeling better and he’s getting more confident as he goes. I think that’s probably the most part, but what you see is he’s made progress and you just got to keep going.”
