Having a plan for offense and defense.

The VAST majority of the throws that Mahomes throws are the same ones that Alex Smith did. He has elite escapability but when you look at actual Chiefs games, you see that the vast majority of his passes are short passes to receivers wide open in space. He will have intermediate throws here and there but that system relies on YAC. Mahomes has attempted 411 passes and in throws that weren't spiked, batted, or thrown away, 284 of those passes were from behind the line to 10 yards out, 70 from 10-20 yards, and 38 from 20+. If we break those down on a per game bases, he is averaging roughly 36 passes a game and, on average, 26 of those passes are less than 10 yards. The vast majority are either behind the line or from 3-7 yards. A lot of people take this as a dig against him but nah, he is playing great in a system that allows him to produce. He makes crazy throws but it is his ability to escape that sets him apart. That and Andy Reid gave him the green light.

Truthfully though, a lot of people will not want to open Pandora's Box as it relates to positive plays when the pocket collapses or breaks down...lol
Random Mahomes stat, he has led the league in the number of TD passes thrown behind the LOS every year he was a starter except 2019 (Rodgers beat him by one that year). Clearly he is the leader for the span from 2018-2023.

So YAC plus TD’s on those short throws, wish we had more of that here.