What I’m seeing from the Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes going deep, defense in a rush

The Kansas City Chiefs — more than six weeks after they opened training camp in St. Joseph, Mo. — have finally made it to game week.

With that in mind, let’s take a step back before Friday’s opener against the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil to view things in a broader sense. Here’s a look at what I’ve observed (and heard) after spending most of my days with the team over the past month and a half.

Patrick Mahomes’ top priority (for real, this time)

Yes, throwing the ball deeper was all the talk during the 2024 preseason, even if that didn’t materialize during the season.

Though K.C.’s offense did enough to help the team to a 15-1 start, Mahomes continued a trend of throwing shorter passes overall, finishing the regular season with 6.3 air yards per attempt — ranking 25th out of 28 quarterbacks with at least 300 pass attempts, per TruMedia.

This continued a downward shift for Mahomes. His air yards per attempt, starting with his first season as a starter in 2018, have either decreased or remained steady every season of his career.

Patrick Mahomes air yards per attempt

2018	9.1
2019	8.8
2020	8.3
2021	7.3
2022	7.3
2023	6.5
2024	6.3

That trend will change this season. Count on it.

Mahomes isn’t just talking about getting the ball deeper downfield on pass attempts — he’s also having others hold him accountable since organized team activities began in May.

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said he and the QBs have come up with acronyms in the meeting room to remind Mahomes when he’s not testing defenses down the field enough. Though those short messages aren’t public yet (“I’ll leave that internal,” Nagy said Monday with a smile), they still reinforce just how much Mahomes is focused on rewiring his decision-making.

Nagy described it this way: If the Chiefs have a post pattern on a play and another route out to the flat, Mahomes’ goal is to stay true to his progression post-snap. He might not throw it to the deep route but must look there first before advancing to a potential checkdown.

There’s also been evidence that Mahomes is serious about this adjustment. He completed a 58-yard pass to Tyquan Thornton in the third preseason game against Chicago on the exact type of explosive play the Chiefs lacked last season.