Holistic Athlete Weekly Newsletter

Did “Pressure” Play a Role in the Chiefs Poor Super Bowl Performance?

What in the world did we just watch? When a player doesn’t perform well in big moments, as was the case for Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, it’s easy to point to the pressure and stress of the game and assume that’s the reason. Sometimes that’s accurate, sometimes it’s not. For example, if a kicker has a game-tying 46 yard field goal with 3 seconds left in the Super Bowl and misses, it may be widely assumed that he “choked” under the pressure of the moment. But he’s also not going to make a 46 yard field goal every single time. Sometimes the statistics of the game play out the way they play out, and the context of the situation may not always be as relevant as we think.

So let’s look at Patrick Mahomes and the overall Chiefs performance last night. Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl winner coming off back to back championship seasons, feels unlikely to crumble under the pressure of the moment. He has been incredibly clutch throughout his career, coming back to win from down double digits in all 3 of his Super Bowl wins, and currently holds a streak of 17 consecutive wins in 1-score games.

So what happened? When we break down performance into the 4 domains I discuss often on here, there’s a bit of everything that led to the Super Bowl blowout:

Physical - The Eagles as a whole looked faster. There’s a strategic and mental overlap here, as “faster” often means “more decisive/confident,” but the Chiefs offense line was dominated physically, leading to disruptions in timing, rhythm, and Mahomes’ ability to see the field.

Tactical - Andy Reid and company were dominated by Nick Sirianni and his staff. The Chiefs had no answers schematically, since the Eagles got most of their pressure without blitzing (due to their physical dominance up front), which allowed Philadelphia to both pressure the quarterback and play coverage behind them — a harrowing task for a quarterback.

Technical - Here’s where you’d like to have seen Mahomes overcome some adversity and stay true to his mechanics. Under duress from the Eagles pass rush, he often lowered his eyes to pay attention to pass rush as opposed to going through his reads and maintaining his field of vision down the field — which he’s typically exceptional at. Most of his throws were off-platform, off-balance, flat, and low. All indicators of poor footwork.

Mental - Once again I believe it’s unlikely that the pressure of the game itself impacted Mahomes’ ability to perform, since we’ve seen him play so well in big moments throughout the years. A plausible issue that may have happened because of the context of the game being the Super Bowl is a sense of panic may have set in when the offense’s scheme wasn’t working, and it appeared that the Eagles defense was physically dominating them. In a regular season game, he may have done better mentally at making adjustments and trying to problem-solve with the understanding that a loss wouldn’t hurt their season too much and that they can always get better from the experience. In the Super Bowl, however, there is no tomorrow. The panic of the game script not being favorable in the biggest game of the year may have led to poor decisions as he tried to force the ball down the field to make something happen, leading to the interceptions.

It’s never just one thing. The Chiefs were dismantled in all facets of the game last night, and the Eagles are deserving Super Bowl champions.

Misconceptions about Cannabis Use

Time and time again, when I sit with athletes for individual sessions, the discussion about marijuana use is often portrayed in similar ways.

“It’s a safe alternative to drinking.”

“Yes, I smoke every day, but it doesn’t really affect me.”

“I use it to relax.”

“It enhances my experience eating, watching a show, or hanging out with friends.”

There appears to be a lack of education and awareness about the harmful affects of marijuana. My sense from discussing substance use with teenagers on a fairly regular basis is that it is more addictive than previously thought. In addition, refer to the article below about concerning psychological consequences of consistent cannabis use.

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