Patrick Mahomes proves he can handle any opponent in any environment

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FOXBOROUGH, MA – OCTOBER 14: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on before a game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 14, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

Patrick Mahomes went toe to toe against the greatest coach and quarterback of all time in primetime on the road and proved without a shadow of a doubt he’s the future of the NFL.

Of all the test Patrick Mahomes has faced in his young career, Week 6 turned out to probably be his biggest. Everyone knew before this game started that it would be an offensive shootout and that meant Mahomes had to go toe-to-toe with the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady. He also had to do this going against one of the greatest defensive minds in the history of football in New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. To maximize the difficulty, Mahomes had to face these tests in primetime in Foxboro on Sunday Night Football.

While this wasn’t a perfect game by Mahomes, I think it was his best performance overall so far. Yes he made some mistakes, yes he left some throws on the field but he also made an unbelievable come back and outdueled the greatest of all time. It was a big game with lots to dig in to so let’s get analyzing.

THE GOOD

The 2nd Half

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For a player in his second season, and first, as a starter, it’s incredible to see the confidence he plays the game with even in the worst of scenarios. Mahomes finished the half with an interception that cost the Chiefs points and left them trailing 24-9 in Foxborough. That is a scenario where I believe all but maybe two of the quarterbacks in Chiefs franchise history would not even come close to making it a game.

But Mahomes came out in the second half and proceeded to hit Kareem Hunt on a 67-yard touchdown pass on the third play after the break. The moment was never too big for him and despite a not so stellar first half, he came out in the second half and the Patriots knew they were in for a dogfight.

Mahomes threw for 188 yards on 9-12 passing and four touchdowns. The Chiefs scored on five of their final six possessions and I would argue it should have been six for six had Andy Reid not played conservative and punted the ball in the fourth quarter. While the defense has their worst game of the season, Mahomes nearly overcame them on the road against Brady and Belichick. He adjusted and dominated the defensive genius.

Overcame Andy

Prior to this season, I was as high on Mahomes as just about anyone. I had no doubt that he would hit the ground running and the Chiefs would be in for a special season. There was only one question that really bugged me that I had to have answered, and that was could Mahomes overcome Reid when he got conservative in a big game?

Too many times under Reid, the Chiefs have played not to lose rather than playing for the win. The question always was around whether this was Reid’s fault or Alex Smith’s fault. I always said it was a little of both in that Reid did play scared in big games and tried to avoid a blowout more than he went for a blowout. But with Smith at QB he didn’t take the matters into his own hand and make the best of what Reid gave him, he simply did the play and took the safe check downs mirroring his coaches attitude.

On Sunday, Reid got conservative on three separate occasions where he played not to lose rather than playing to take the win. In the second quarter down 17-6, he chose to kick a field goal on fourth and goal from the four rather than give Mahomes and the offense a chance to keep pace with Brady. He again chose to kick a field goal instead of going for the touchdown in the fourth quarter down 27-16 with all the momentum in the world. It was fourth-and-2 from the 12-yard line, this offense can get two yards in their sleep and knowing our defense, you can’t kick field goals versus the Patriots when you have real chances at touchdowns.

The last conservative call came when he decided to punt in the fourth quarter down four knowing his defense couldn’t stop the Patriots. But unlike in years past, these decisions didn’t kill the Chiefs. Mahomes overcame these decisions by Reid because he took his conservative nature and turned it into 40 points. Reid gets conservative, Mahomes just throws three touchdown passes to Tyreek Hill. He overcame a horrid defensive performance and conservative coaching and still had enough time to score 40 points and have the Chiefs in position to win.

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