[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Dante84

Mahomes' lower performance is a symptom, not a cause.

The contributing factors and causes are:

1. Receivers are not skilled enough and/or smart enough to get open regularly, and if/when they occasionally do, they lead the league in dropped passes. The result is a lack of trust, which causes PM to hesitate or hold back on throws he'd otherwise make.

2. The O-line and skill players regularly lack discipline, evidenced by the unit being among the most penalized in the league. The result is longer distances to convert first downs, ultimately leading to more stalled drives. In an attempt to convert, Mahomes is often in scenarios where the defenses know what's coming, reducing the element of surprise and increasing the difficulty of his passing windows and the amount of time required before throwing. This naturally causes a drop-off in success rate.

3. The play calling has been poor at times this year, given points 1 & 2. The play calling has not adjusted to or accepted the fact that points 1 & 2 are major issues. By maintaining the same level of risk and trust in players' intelligence & skill levels from previous years, and not accounting for these limitations, often times the plays have a poor chance of success. This creates a vicious circle for Patrick, allowing very little room for error.

It was Nagy's responsibility to identify these issues with the WR & OL units earlier in the season, and he did not. After multiple weeks of the same issues, the responsibility shifted to Andy to step in, and it doesn't appear that he has.

Yes, Veach and the scouts missed on some key players and opportunities. But that part of the organization could not have foreseen such a drop off from last year, and so while they do bear some blame, the majority lies on the coaching staff.

To simply say "Mahomes sucks this year" without acknowledging the circumstances the coaching staff has put him in is both reductive and ignorant.

Great post. Although I still don’t want to hang so much of this on Nagy when we know Reid micromanages the offense. Nagy probably isn’t going anywhere and I am certain Reid turns this around next year. And we’ll be reminded that the OC is still largely a figurehead in Andy’s offense.