The NFL leaders involved in the most intercepted passes are a tired rookie and former Hall of Fame track MVP.
It’s upsetting to see Jets’ Zach Wilson and struggling Patrick Mahomes restricted to nine picks each – for all but perhaps Brett Favre’s former teammates. More specifically, to the three quarterbacks who backed Favre in 1998, when the three-times best player was intercepted 14 times in a five-game span, causing Packers coach Mike Holmgren to crash into quarterback head coach Andy Reed’s bar with an all-in bar. stills.
“It was hard to watch,” Matt Hasselbeck said. “There was an awkward silence as he throws his left hand, over his body, late in the middle, just throwing it in. One of them had two knees. After watching that tape, you’d say, ‘This guy can’t play.’” It’s a disaster.
Andy Reed says, ‘Wait. I have another tape to show you. She was the reel of relegation, and she is “the greatest player in the world”. The common theme in both tapes was risk taking. How do you practice getting rid of the bad stuff and somehow keeping all the amazing stuff? “
Twenty-three years later, Reed has become the head coach of Kansas City, and his challenge once again as the entire NFL on Monday night will watch the Chiefs take on the Giants with the same question in mind: What’s wrong with the Mahomes?
The Post asked this question to three back-to-back players-turned-analysts.
“I realized the difference what’s going on [the Chiefs] “So they know how to defend it better,” said CBS studio host Phil Sims. “It wasn’t as easy for them as it used to be.”
Mahomes is the understated quarterback (10.7 percent of the quick snaps), and the Chiefs see extra-deep safety coverage, designed to take out big pass passes to Terrick Hill and Travis Kelsey. But Cover 2 has been a standard NFL defense for decades — not a new, unresolved development.
So why is it suddenly so effective? Frequently compared to Favre, Mahomes was intercepted 1.4 percent of his passes during his first three seasons as a starter compared to 3.2 percent this year.
“The teams are in the offensive line, and they’re struggling to get the ball rolling,” ESPN’s Brian Grace said. Because of this, teams can play two high steps and not allow Mahomes and Hill to throw the ball too deep. They’re under pressure with four [rushers], so Mahomes doesn’t have an easy man-to-man throw. His fundamentals suffer.”
Hasselbeck, who appears every week on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown,” said five of the Mahomes’ nine interceptions came in extended plays that should have been dead. In other words, the same off-text throws that sometimes lead to a noticeable drop.
“He’s a victim of his own standards that he set,” Hasselbeck said. “The only risk I can say is that if you don’t realize your playing is a problem, you won’t be able to fix it. There is this fine line, how can I fix this?”
The Raiders gave the NFL a blueprint to defeat the Chiefs on October 11, 2020, when they used a three-man defensive front and a spy and shot seven in coverage. It took a long time for most teams to catch Mahomes blitzing with the idea of forcing him on a quick throw that doesn’t cancel out big play but offers him singles matches where speed is in the chiefs’ favour.
“He should be happier with completing 5 and 6 yards than always looking for a completed 30 and 40 yard,” Sims said. “It’s an exaggeration, but the teams are basically saying, ‘We dare to run football and get rid of it. “Until you do it on a consistent basis, nobody will come in and be aggressive. Then maybe we’ll go back to what we’re used to, that massive air show.”
The Chiefs actually average 5.0 yards per carry, but it’s always been the story of Reid’s playing career, as he was too quick to give up running. Another handicap is Clyde Edwards-Helair’s knee injury. Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky suggested on ESPN’s “NFL Live” that reliance on the pass pass option has spoiled Mahomes’ pocket move.
So do the Giants have the ability to stifle bosses when most defense investment is up front and secondary? Until the Panthers’ dominance last week, the Giants ranked at or near the bottom of the NFL in defense rush, allowable completion percentage and resultant pressures.
“They put a few things together, but that’s a different animal,” Grace said. “The answer is I don’t know if they have the defense to do it. I like the individual pieces, but the defense is about how they play as a team, and they haven’t done that consistently so far this year.”
Hasselbeck remembers thinking the Packers were so angry that they might one day cut him off, a fourth stringer, just to prove a point. They didn’t, and he had a great run in that offensive system with the Seahawks. With Seattle, you know defenses can thrive simply by catching all of your passes and inversions.
This is what happens here. Most experts remain convinced that Mahomes’ fortunes will soon change.
“When you play the star quarterback, there is an increased awareness: he will throw fast balls,” Hasselbeck said. “With Mahomes, it’s a prize in your trough can for intercepting him. I think he just needs to clean up a few things on the field.”
Additional reporting by Steve Serby
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