Patrick Mahomes: Game Manager

[DJ's left nut]

So i re-watched the 2nd half last night just for grins.

And during the game I was just aggravated that we simply wouldn't push the ball. But on re-watch and after listening to the post-game, it's clear that this was Mahomes just going full Alex Smith out there.

He wasn't concerned anymore about scoring points. He (and Andy) were wholly content bleeding clock and leaning on their lead. He knew that if he just didn't make a mistake, the Ravens weren't going to come back and win it. So he took ZERO risks.

Contrast that with how he played on the first two drives. And hell, the throw he made on 3rd down when they had to have it. He HAD big plays. He HAD yards and probably points on the board. But he dialed that risk/reward calculus waaaaaaay down because he wanted to make sure there were zero mistakes.

And I think part of it was because he knew that if he needed to pick things back up, he could. He would. He was in complete command of the game and game script.

It was part of a continued evolution from Mahomes. If he needs to breath fire, he will. But when he doesn't need to, he knows how to just keep the game under control. He can be Rodgers OR he can be Brady.

He's a scary scary dude even when he isn't.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Pasta Little Brioni

Look...I get what he's saying but ultimately I think it's a cop out fir just how bad they reacted to Baltimores adjustments on defense. It also allowed our defense to be on the field all half and the Ravens moved the ball at will in the 2nd half.

Our offense isn't the fire breathing dragon it was before. The Raven defense is probably better than our offense. Even when we were playing well in the first half, it wasn't exactly just blasting around.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I just dont understand the thought process behind "not needing to."

This team should never be content. Too many games reach uncomfortable stages because we get content. The game was only ever 10 points of separation for 3 quarters. I can't imagine a world in which that little of a lead should ever be considered "enough."

Of course we'd all love to have more. The results of the game show we didn't "need" it. By not taking risks we instead were going to force Lamar to drive the field on our elite defense. The Ravens D was able to hold us from scoring, but they were never able to get that game-changing takeaway to make things easy for Lamar. I love it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by O.city

Absolutely. But (and I think this is what DJ is getting at) when we did end up losing those games, it usually was because the offense did something stupid and put the D in bad spots.

Correct.

How many of those games were games we were controlling on defense but we gave the opponent a short field or a defensive score?

We lost because we wouldn't dial the risk knob down, keep the clock moving and let the defense bring it home.

We handled the game against Baltimore differently than we did the games against, say, Philly or LV.

And that's why the outcome was different. This team is winning with what they have and using it extremely well.

[notorious]

I will take a win if it's 2-0. Style points are for arena football!

[Chiefspants]

It was literally the gameplan the Elway Broncos rolled out against Grbac and the Chiefs in the 98 playoffs.

To paraphrase Shannon Sharpe, “if we didn’t turn it over in our territory, that offense just wasn’t capable of putting up 7 against our defense. Our plan was to beat Martyball with Martyball.”

That always salted the wound growing up, but damn if daring Lamar to beat us with his arm didn’t work wonders. We also got a Marty playoff performance from Harbaugh who completely abandoned his #1 rushing offense for no reason in the second half.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Did we though? We went for it on 4th down at like their 20 yard line. I dont see how we turned the risk knob to 0. We were struggling.

That was earlier in the game when we still weren't sure what Baltimore had on offense.

I don't think we came into this game expecting to do what we did. I think we decided in the 2nd half that the adjustments to make were to take the air out of the football and force Baltimore to work to win it.

If 4th down play happens in the 3rd quarter, we take the points, IMO. But at that point in the game, we were still feeling out the game script.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by jd1020

It was a stud play that was awarded by the same dumb****ery that caused Hardman to fumble at the 1 against the Bills. Do you credit the Bills for that fumble too?

those plays aren't within a million mile of each other.

Flowers stuck that ball out like a whack a mole, and Sneed flew in like a ninja and five fingered the ball.


....the true dagger was the INT.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Guys, the 2018 Pats offense wasn't a juggernaut whatsoever. Very comparable to us here in fact. A couple HOFers, good OL, and some JAGs.

One week against us, they scored 38 because our defense stunk and that's what they had to do. Then in the Super Bowl, they scored 13 and protected the ball because that's all they needed to do.

Just win playoff games however you can.

[St. Patty's Fire]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Correct.

How many of those games were games we were controlling on defense but we gave the opponent a short field or a defensive score?

We lost because we wouldn't dial the risk knob down, keep the clock moving and let the defense bring it home.

We handled the game against Baltimore differently than we did the games against, say, Philly or LV.

And that's why the outcome was different. This team is winning with what they have and using it extremely well.

the LV game is an amazing example. our defense was shutting them down but we just had to be dumb and give them easy fields with dumb decisions on offense. def a game where if we just played through our D like we did yesterday, we would have won

[dannybcaitlyn]

I thought it was a tad bit too conservative. Would have liked a few conversions for first because our defensive guys tongues were hanging out at the end there. But hey, it all worked out!

[displacedinMN]

OP-great point

they knew what they could get, then made them pay with the MVS throw. Was that the longest of the day?

Then boom. Game. It is amazing that the Chiefs only scored 17 pts in an AFCCG and won.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by dannybcaitlyn

I thought it was a tad bit too conservative. Would have liked a few conversions for first because our defensive guys tongues were hanging out at the end there. But hey, it all worked out!

Even a flawed Mahomes performance is unbeatable...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I really didn't like it because it was a free possession, so take the free points... but was totally content with 17-7, because who knows what happens if they make a FG there and how the Ravens play calling changes.... was just happy to hold them off the board and tack on the 3 to end the half.

Yeah, on the road, I wanted him to take the points. Keep the crowd quiet and don't give them any momentum back after you get a free possession.

I thought that play was a mistake but ultimately I think that play was also part of the learning process that lead to the conservative 2nd half.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by jd1020

I just dont understand the thought process behind "not needing to."

This team should never be content. Too many games reach uncomfortable stages because we get content. The game was only ever 10 points of separation for 3 quarters. I can't imagine a world in which that little of a lead should ever be considered "enough."

Have you not watched enough early Chiefs game this season to see what happens in close games when players don't execute?

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Have you not watched enough early Chiefs game this season to see what happens in close games when players don't execute?

So why play like we can just execute at will? Even Mahomes has shown he can't execute at will this year. If it's not there, dont take it, but dont completely remove the option for it to be there.