CELEBRITY
Patrick Mahomes will benefit from the Chiefs struggling this season for the rest of his career, explains Kansas City head coach Andy Reid: ‘He had patience and was willing to teach’
The Chiefs started the season dominant at 7-2, then went into panic with a 2-4 stretch. Kansas City won its final two regular season games by a combined nine points, which did not move the needle for the team’s confidence.
The postseason proved to be a different beast, as the Chiefs won all four playoff games in different cities to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
Kansas City’s lack of offensive production in the middle of the season included streak of several games where tight end Travis Kelce did not catch a touchdown, ending during the team’s Divisional round victory over the Bills.
As Mahomes attempts to solidify himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time, Reid believes the Chiefs struggles this season will only be a benefit for his future Hall-of-Fame signal caller.
You’ve got the outside scrutiny, but you’re also trying to fix it and grow it in our case,’ Reid said at the NFL combine. ‘We had way too many drops, way too many penalties, new guys on the offensive line, new guys opposite (Kelce) without experience.’
As Rashee (Rice) grew, our offense kind of grew,’ Reid added.
‘In the mean time, you have this MVP quarterback that had patience with it and was willing to teach,’ Reid said of Mahomes.
‘So I think that’s probably what (Chiefs offensive coordinator) matt (Nagy) meant was, he took a positive road moving forward where other guys were getting frustrated. He kept a positive attitude and people followed him,’ Reid concluded.
Mahomes is only 28 years old, and Reid has been his only coach in the NFL.
Only having been drafted by Kansas City in 2017, Mahomes is already thought of as a surefire Hall of Famer with three Super Bowl titles.
Yet, it is the mid-season struggles Reid points to that will make Mahomes better in the long run.