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
I wouldn’t put too much stock into those pass attempts from this year or last year. Dude has been working with some real lackluster receivers, excluding Kelce obviously. Plus, the Chiefs has been void of a true running game since Kareem Hunt left. Smith had 3 seasons with RBs that went over 1K yards, 1 season with over 900 yards, and 1 season over 600. Mahomes has never had a 1K rusher. Only 3 seasons with an 800 yard rusher, 1 season with a guy over 500 yards, and 1 season of a just below 500 yard runner. He’s been working with essentially no run game. For his entire career, his team has been 1 dimensional. Reid has a good system, and he’s a good HC, but it is certified bc of Mahomes. A QB like Alex Smith only gets you so far. A QB like Mahomes gets you 💍💍s and also gets you right there in the Conference Championship. It’s a good marriage, but without Mahomes, Reid is ringless. No QB should be that great, that fast. Although I will say, that what Andy did with Alex Smith was something to marvel at. He definitely tapped into his potential and helped him overachieve in KC.