The Chiefs’ offense looks revived through the Week 7 of the 2025 season, and not just because of the returns of receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice. Along with getting their top playmakers back on the field, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been stepping his game up once again.
Since Mahomes last won NFL MVP in 2022 and led the Chiefs to the No. 1 offense in both total yards and points per game that season, Kansas City has become more reliant on its defense, and the offense was far from as exciting or dangerous as it used to be. In 2024, Mahomes threw for less than 4,000 yards for the first time since he started just one game as a rookie and averaged a career-low 6.8 yards per attempt. The Chiefs were still winning games and making the Super Bowl, but they weren't as explosive on offense as they wanted to be.
Per Jesse Newell of The Athletic, Mahomes spent time over the offseason re-examining his play from a season ago. He detailed that he was "obsessed" with playing perfectly before the snap, meaning he would decide not to throw to certain routes if he saw the defense playing a certain play. At times, he was more likely to scramble or check the football down, rather than take an aggressive shot.
This season, Mahomes is finding a better balance between being aggressive and too cautious, as well as not simply letting the defense predetermine what he'll do with the football.
“It’s like, ‘I know the coverage it is. I know this route’s not supposed to be open.’ So I would just move on,” Mahomes said to Newell. “I went back and watched the film this last year, and I was like, ‘I can’t give (defenses) too much credit.'”
“They’re going to be trying to make plays, just like I’m trying to make plays,” Mahomes told Newell. “And so go through your progression, go through your read, simplify and just play fast. And I think that’s really helped me out this year.”
After all, Mahomes is still Mahomes. The defense might give him a certain look, but Mahomes is already gonna go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. He has shown over and over throughout his career he can make impressive plays out of nothing, and that it's the defense who should fear him, not vice versa.
Even the greatest players can overthink things. But now that the Mahomes has tweaked his approach, he's back to playing at an MVP level, and defenses across the league better beware.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Reveals Key Difference in His Play, Chiefs Offense This Season.