Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes will have to escape Myles Garrett

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes has been forced to adapt to circumstances this season that he didn’t have to face consistently earlier in his career, especially when it comes to being under pressure from the opposing pass rush.

“It’s part of football,” Mahomes said matter-of-factly. “We’ve played a lot of good defense this year. That’s the only bad thing about when you win the Super Bowl. You’re playing the best program and we’ve played a lot of good defensive ends and defensive linemen.”

The Kansas City Chiefs have played difficult schedules before, but this season has been their worst in terms of protecting Mahomes, who has been sacked 13 times in the past three games and 23 in the past six.

He has been sacked 35 times in 13 games this season, already more than in any season of his career. His previous high in a full season was 28. And it’s not like opponents have put an emphasis on pressuring Mahomes. He has been hit on 24.4% of his dropbacks, the fifth-lowest percentage in the league, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

The Chiefs have started three different players at left tackle this season. The first two, rookie Kingsley Suamataia and Wanya Morris, were so disappointing that they were benched.

Last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs turned to veteran DJ Humphries, who signed as a free agent two weeks ago. But he wasn’t an improvement, giving up eight touchdowns in 40 pass attempts, according to Next Gen Stats. The 20% pressure was the second highest given up by a Chiefs left tackle in a game this season.

Sunday’s game against the Browns in Cleveland (1 p.m. ET, CBS) brings an added need for improvement. Their featured pass rusher is Myles Garrett, who ranks second in the league with 11 sacks.

“You’ve got to give him another look,” Mahomes said. “You can’t just pass rush him over and over again. He’s won Defensive Player of the Year for a reason. He’s going to win a lot of those games. So we’re going to trade him. We’re going to throw him different spots so hopefully he can keep his mind in progress, but at the end of the day, he wants to make games happen.

“When he starts winning reps or winning certain plays, don’t make negative plays, get rid of the football, even if it’s throwing it away and live to play another game.”

Mahomes indicated that he deserves some blame for his high sack total, holding the ball too long on certain plays. He cited the first sack he took against the Chargers, which went on third down on the first drive of the game and caused the Chiefs to kick a field goal.

“There are times when I try to be greedy and try to take a shot down the field,” he said. “Look at the early sacks in this last game. On the first third down. I (should) probably just hit (Travis Kelce) and he may or may not get the first down, but I’m really trying to stick with it, and then I rush the pocket, try to make a play and run into a sack.”

Mahomes turned to the rushing passing game against the Chargers and made it work. He completed 17 of 19 throws, or about 90%, when passing within 2.5 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats. He was 7-of-18 when taking more than 2.5 seconds.

Mahomes has performed faster this season than at any point in his career, a sign that he is adjusting to new circumstances. Asked if Mahomes might have adjusted like this earlier in his career, coach Andy Reid indicated he was unsure, saying, “We didn’t ask him to do a whole lot of that.”

Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy added: “It could have been harder for him as a young, up-and-coming guy who wants to throw 75 touchdown passes every year and have a million explosive (plays).

“He’s really maturing and growing as a quarterback. His mentality isn’t changing. Don’t get that part twisted. He’s still trying to go downfield. But if they’re not going to give it to him, grow as a quarterback and don’t throw 30 interceptions. He’s done a good job with it.”

The Chiefs similarly struggled on offense last season, though the issues were different. After that, the Chiefs had few reliable wide receivers and led the league in dropped passes.

After the season, Mahomes acknowledged his frustration. He said he sees more hope this season than he did last year, when the Chiefs overcame their struggles to win a second straight Super Bowl.

This time, if the Chiefs are going to get a third straight championship, it may very well depend on his continued ability to handle the pressure.

“We’ve got to be able to hit some of those explosive plays,” Mahomes said. “When you do that, it opens up everything else. It seems like we’re stalling on drives (and) on little things, and I’ve been saying that kind of thing all year, but it’s close. I really think that we are closer, closer than we were last year at this time.

“It’s just about finding a way to prove it on the football field on … game days. Then we can kind of go into the playoffs with some momentum.”