Merlin’s Guide to the Kingdom
It’s been awhile since I have felt the need to write an article here. It’s a testament to the regular writers who have made this a fun, engaging space to talk all things Chiefs. When I have felt I needed to make a point, the point was small enough for a comment to suffice. Anyway, now I have enough to say to constitute an actual article, so let’s get on with it.
Patrick, Patrick, Patrick
Patrick Mahomes is in an excellent situation here with the Chiefs. He is playing like an eight year veteran. He has learned and grown exponentially since the Chiefs drafted him. The Chiefs have done an amazing job mentoring him, surrounding him with a lot of talent and given him an offense designed to take advantage of his vast and rare skillset. Alex Smith deserves a lot of credit. He was a class act and mentored Patrick without hiding things from him in fear of losing his job. That my friends is the epitome of class and professionalism. So what is the next step for Patrick?
His Next Step
Yes, it’s a step backwards. This is natural and to be expected. Right now, he is functioning as a poised veteran. How will he respond when he throws two bad interceptions in a game? How will he respond when he is down two or three scores in the second half? How will he and the Chiefs adapt once opposing defensive coordinators get enough tape on Patrick and throw him wrinkles he hasn’t seen before. I suspect he will be fine, but it’s a process he needs to go through.
Difference Makers
The NFL is a league where the talent level is spread out very evenly. Finding true difference makers is hard. Fielding multiple difference makers on the same side of the ball is very difficult. When you can do that, you have something special. The Chiefs had two difference makers on offense already, Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Both players are very hard to defend one on one. Now you add Patrick Mahomes. How does he change that equation? Hold on to that thought, I’ll cover it in the next section when I claim that.
Sammy Watkins = Willie Roaf
Some of you are too young to remember this. The year is 2001. New Orleans Saints all-pro left tackle and future Hall of Famer Willie Roaf’s season is cut short due to a knee injury. The Chiefs have a very, very good offensive line consisting of LT John Tait, LG Brian Waters, C Casey Wiegmann, RG Will Shields and RT Marcus Spears. Over the off-season, the Chiefs sent a 3rd round draft pick to the Saints for Roaf. It was a gamble, but it paid off. Roaf took over the LT position, bumping Tait to RT and elevating the Chiefs offensive line from very, very good to an all-time great line.
Sammy Watkins has a very good chance of doing the same thing with the Chiefs offense. The Chiefs now have two WR’s that can take the top off the defense. If that wasn’t enough, the Chiefs have a TE in Kelce who is a threat running deep seam routes. How does the Mahomes change the equation? He takes a very bad situation for the defense and makes it brutal. Mahomes throws the ball hard, very hard. This has the effect of reducing the effective range of each defensive player. You add that to the Chiefs stretching the field and you have holes, lots of them, big holes. That means lots of completed passes and lots of touchdowns. The caveat is that Mahomes has to have time to throw. That brings us to the next point.
The Defensive Adjustment
The only way I see for a defense to counter Mahomes is to blitz him, early, often with lots of different blitz packages. That is the adjustment I expect to see from opposing defenses.
Merlin’s Final Notes
Unfortunately money talks the loudest in this society. With that in mind, the NFL should end it’s blackballing of Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid. When Nike featured Kaepernick in an ad campaign, online sales rose 31% and the stock price hit a record high. For folks opposed to Kaepernick, not only are you on the wrong side of history, you do not have the support among the general public.
Homework For You
Borrowing from our leader, retired teacher Ladner Morse, I am going to assign homework for discussion: Colin Kaepernick = Curt Flood.
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