Patrick Mahomes became the headline performer of the NFL season’s first three weeks by making everything look easy.
He became an honest-to-goodness standout of an NFL quarterback Monday night in Denver by finding a way to get it done when things were anything but.
Mahomes faced a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter on the road against a proud and accomplished Broncos defense. He regrouped after being out of sync for portions of the evening with some of his top receivers. He eluded pass rushers and delivered throws on target and on time from all angles, with his body twisted every which way, even with his left hand in one particularly dire circumstance.
And when it was done, he and the Chiefs somehow escaped with a 27-23 triumph that raised their record to 4-0 and said so much more about them than their first three wins in which Mahomes put up such crazy passing numbers.
“It was awesome,” Mahomes said in a postgame interview on the ESPN broadcast. “Just to get a win against a division opponent, a rival and someone that we’re gonna have to see again later in the season, gives us a lot of momentum going into next week.”
The comparisons to quarterbacking luminaries such as Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers were flowing easily on social media and among the TV talking heads as the night progressed. And yes, all of that is so premature. Mahomes is four games into his first season as a starter after sitting around as a rookie and waiting behind Alex Smith for his turn. He’s yet to reach a Pro Bowl, win an MVP award or take a team to a Super Bowl.
But those things clearly are coming, perhaps as soon as this season. No comparison seemed too outlandish by the time Monday’s game was done.
Mahomes entered the game as the runaway early-season MVP favorite based on 896 yards with 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions in the Chiefs’ first three games, victories over the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers. His passer ratings in those games were 127.5, 154.8 and 115.5.
Monday night’s figure was 89.5. Mahomes threw for 304 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions — bringing his season totals to 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions — on 28-for-45 passing.
So yes, this was Mahomes’s worst game of the season.
And still, it was a sight to behold.
He had trouble in the first half connecting with tight end Travis Kelce. His timing with wide receiver Tyreek Hill was off on some plays. Wideout Sammy Watkins exited the game with a hamstring injury. The Broncos defense was doing its best impression of its dominant, Super Bowl-winning days. Pass rushers Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and Derek Wolfe were in constant pursuit. The Denver offense was having success with the running game. The crowd was loud and energized. The Broncos led, 13-10, at halftime and upped the advantage to 23-13 in the fourth quarter.
There were some good moments for Mahomes earlier in the game. He scored his first career rushing touchdown and made one particularly eye-catching throw while moving to his left, contorting his body to flick a throw back toward his right to Kelce just before crossing the line of scrimmage.
But the true magic came down the stretch. The Chiefs converted on fourth down en route to a Mahomes-to-Kelce touchdown to get to within 23-20 with less than 6:30 to play. On their next drive, Mahomes ran to his left as he was chased by Miller on a third-and-five play. While being dragged to the ground by one of the best pass rushers of this generation, Mahomes threw a left-handed pass to Hill for a six-yard gain and a first down.
“I’ll try not to do it any more,” Mahomes told ESPN. “The guy was chasing me around my back. I knew if I got it to [No.] 10, he could get the first down. So I just figured out a way to get it to him. He made a great play on it.”
An intentional grounding penalty on Mahomes and a holding call put the Chiefs in a second-and-30 predicament. No matter. Mahomes dialed up completions of 23 and 35 yards on the next two plays. The Chiefs got the go-ahead touchdown on a four-yard run by tailback Kareem Hunt with 1:39 left. They held on from there, although they had to survive some anxious moments when the Broncos marched quickly down the field and nearly pulled off a catch-and-lateral play in the final seconds.
Mahomes’s dazzling arm strength has been well chronicled already. He also has a Rodgers-like ability to move around while buying time to throw. According to ESPN, Mahomes’s 192 passing yards from outside the pocket Monday were the most by an NFL quarterback in a game in 10 seasons.
There are big tests for the Chiefs to come. They face the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots in their next two games. There’s a matchup with the Los Angeles Rams in mid-November in Mexico City. They have a long way to go to prove they are Super Bowl worthy. Mahomes, despite all appearances Monday and throughout the season, is not yet ensured of being a Hall of Fame quarterback. There is so much that is left to play out.
But one thing seems certain, underscored by Mahomes’s performance Monday: It will be fun to watch.
“We just had to do what we do,” Mahomes said. “I said it all year: This offense, we can be a really good offense in this league. If we just kind of stay within ourselves and play the way we can play, we can win a lot of games.”
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