The Kansas City Chiefs offence has revealed two different faces this season. While Patrick Mahomes has stood out as a quiet game manager of late, he could be back to being the fierce gunslinger on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Munich – The Kansas City Chiefs’ defence has been playing much improved of late, bringing Andy Reid’s team closer and closer to the top of the AFC.

As a result, during the sustained five-game winning streak, there has also been significantly more pressure on the offense around superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has been more error-prone than usual, especially at the start of the season.

The 26-year-old has been playing with much more concentration for a few weeks now and has reduced his error rate as a result. Most recently, the “game manager” model proved to be a stroke of luck.

Winning streak with little risk

The Kansas City Chiefs’ season can be fairly divided into two distinct halves. In the first six games of the season, Mahomes totaled 18 touchdowns thrown with eight interceptions. Despite the supposedly good touchdown numbers, the Chiefs stood here with a record of three wins and three losses.

Mahomes’ turnovers were too costly and the defence too full of holes for the Chiefs to come across as a real top team. Then, with a resounding 3-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 7, the tide turned.

In the past six games, Mahomes has thrown only four interceptions, but he has also scored only seven touchdowns through the air over that span. Still, head coach Andy Reid’s recipe seems to be working.

The Chiefs have won five of their past six games and are back in the race for the number one seed in the AFC with a record of eight wins and four losses. While Mahomes is getting a handle on his mistakes, his teammates have yet to follow suit here.

Task for the Chiefs: get back to basics

Against the Denver Broncos last game day, even star receiver Tyreek Hill made a serious slip-up. The speedster failed to hold onto a ball from Mahomes, causing it to land in the arms of a Broncos defender.

“A good place to start will be to go back to the basics,” Head Coach Reid said of the solutions in the week’s practice, “Focusing on the tip of the ball, catching it and then clamping it down tight. Then the tempo can be picked up as normal. “

Even in the weeks before, the Chiefs’ receivers regularly had trouble holding onto Mahomes’ balls. Lack of concentration on the part of the pass receivers ultimately led to Mahomes tallying an interception or two that probably could have been prevented.

Mahomes in search of identity

While Coach Reid put the onus on the receivers, Mahomes proved to be a true leader. “A lot of people say it’s his fault, but I can throw the ball better, too. I just have to get back to making better throws so guys can make plays easier,” the signal caller said at Wednesday’s press conference.

For Mahomes, the current season is also a kind of self-discovery. While everything went smoothly and almost by itself in the past years, the 26-year-old currently finds himself in a small identity crisis. Although he knows that his cautious play promises more success for the team, he longs for his infamous gunslinger mentality.

“I want to prevent turnovers as much as possible, but on the other hand, I still want to be myself. I want to keep throwing the football and helping guys get more chances,” the superstar stressed. The gunslinger is not quite retired after all.

Gunslinger mentality against the Raiders?

This season, Patrick Mahomes has occasionally reverted to his old gunslinger mentality and can single-handedly carve up opposing defenses with his passes, as he proved in the first meeting with the Raiders in Week Ten.

Back then, he turned the Raiders’ secondary completely inside out once in a 41-14 win with 406 passing yards and five touchdowns thrown. It was the liberation game of the Chiefs offence this season and showed that Mahomes has not forgotten anything – he just doesn’t dare to take the risk as often anymore.

So it’s quite possible that Andy Reid will give his quarterback the ammunition he needs again on Sunday to pull off a similar game. Optimally, Mahomes is already finding a good mix of attacking desire and caution with an eye on the playoffs, which has been his hallmark in recent years.

Because one thing NFL teams should absolutely not continue to do is underestimate Patrick Mahomes in any way.