KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – JANUARY 19: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts after a fourth quarter touchdown pass against the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback is ridiculously effective on third down
2020 hasn’t been great for many, but it was fantastic to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He won Super Bowl LIV at the expense of the San Francisco 49ers, earned a $500 million contract extension and became a part-owner of the Kansas City Royals! Not bad. That’s all thanks to his innovative and impressive play on an NFL gridiron on a weekly basis. If you thought Mahomes was great, a new stat further proves that he’s truly a once in a generation signal caller.
Ben Baldwin of The Athletic tweeted out a graph of every quarterback’s efficiency on third down the past two seasons. The number was determined by completion percentage over expected and expected points added per play (passes, rushes, penalties). Many quarterbacks were bunched up next to each other on the graph, and then there’s Mahomes, who has the highest success rate on third down!
Is that good? Because that looks good.
Mahomes literally in a league of his own
You can’t help but laugh at how superior Mahomes is over his colleagues, as he’s even better on third down than Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. It just goes to show how special he is with a football in his hand.
Mahomes has been the Chiefs’ starting quarterback for two seasons now, and he has a cumulative completion percentage of 66.0, while throwing for a total of 9,128 yards, 76 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Plenty of credit can be given to his ability to escape pressure from inside the pocket and throw on the run. Not many quarterbacks can do that, but Mahomes makes it look so easy.
Look, everyone knows that Mahomes is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL right now. But in case you needed proof to show those that disagree with your opinion, just show them this graph. It’s indisputable.