Patrick Mahomes’ game in 2025 was not what Kansas City is used to. And heading into the 2026 season, his playing style is raising a lot of doubts. Despite winning three Super Bowls with the Chiefs. Now, injury did hamper his run, but the anonymous coach thinks his game was messed up even before that. Now, former TE Jason “The” Dunn believes the same.

“I don’t really disagree with what he’s saying. Now, obviously, some things may be a little bit too overboard, but I do believe that Pat sometimes holds the ball too long,” Dunn said on the Chief Concerns podcast. “We’ve seen it at times that he would get in trouble with that. Pat, it was one of the things he wanted to be able to work on, right?

If you’re down in the game, we understand that hero ball has to come out with Pat, and he puts it all on his shoulders. And more than likely, it’s going to work out. It is going to work out. So I do believe that some of that is accurate. ‘Held the ball too long, thre the ball when it wasn’t necessary’ I don’t know if I necessary agree with that part of it. I think Pat sees something. He can make throws that some people cannot make. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Back in 2021, while playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV during the fourth quarter, the Chiefs were down 31-9 with only 1:41 to go. Mahomes threw a pass toward Travis Kelce. However, he was covered by Buccaneers’ linebacker Devin White. The latter easily intercepted the play, and Tampa Bay’s quarterback Tom Brady added one more ring to his collection. Yet, he continues to take risks. That’s what an anonymous coach said.

“Mahomes struggled even before the injury last year, held the ball too long, and forced throws when it wasn’t necessary,” an anonymous DC said. “Still has a tendency to chase the big play instead of keeping the offense on schedule.”

During the Chiefs’ win over the Baltimore Ravens last year, Patrick Mahomes made a risky four-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster, even when Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Marlon Humphrey were close to him. Though the pass was successful, it was risky. Even the stats show he takes too many risks.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mahomes threw into tight spaces on 14.1% of his passes in 2025, whereas it was just 10.3% in 2024. This shows that Mahomes’ struggles are not only because of his injury, but the injury can still make things harder for him. Patrick Mahomes is currently recovering from a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee that he suffered in December.

Mahomes has been making good progress in his recovery, but he has not received full medical clearance to play yet. So, let’s wait and see if he can tackle all the issues in the 2026 season or not.