The Kansas City Chiefs have their areas of concern, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes is certainly not one of them as he maintains a solid pace for MVP consideration.
On Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs won their 10th game of the season in 12 tries and won their 20th game in their last 21 against the AFC West. Yet somehow the demeanor of fans after the game didn’t quite seem to match those achievements, largely because the game was far too close against the basement-dwelling Oakland Raiders, a team that looks like it’s been tanking for better draft results for most of the year.
Despite the winning record, Chiefs fans have a lot to be down about these days. The pall cast by the Kareem Hunt release over the weekend still has most of Chiefs Kingdom stunned in the wake of it all. Then Sunday’s performance looked sloppy, and even an offense that put up 40 points seemed out of sync at times. The Chiefs continued to rack up plenty of penalties, while a defense let Oakland back in the game time and again when the offense would create a sizable lead.
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Fortunately, the man at the center of it all remains nearly unflappable. Patrick Mahomes put up another four touchdowns and even led the team in rushing with 55 more yards on the ground (to go with his 295 yards passing) to move further toward his first Most Valuable Player award. During a week in which other contenders faltered a bit, including Andrew Luck and Drew Brees, Mahomes stretched his NFL leading touchdown total to 41.
Even more, there were a few jaw-dropping moments on Sunday that kept the Chiefs alive. There was the incredible slip out of a collapsing pocket that turned into a beautiful lob pass on the run to Travis Kelce that helped ice the game’s final results. There was the absolute bullet to Demetrius Harris in the end zone for one of Mahomes four touchdown passes. Fans who have been watching Mahomes all season know that even the most impressive stats don’t tell the full story—that Mahomes is truly a class above most, if not all, of his peers in the way he can create something from nothing.
That’s not to say that Mahomes looked perfect on the day. In fact, he looked a bit more out of sync than most other games on the schedule. A few passes were lucky to not be intercepted, especially potential grabs by cornerback Gareon Conley and linebacker Tahir Whitehead of the Raiders. Mahomes also missed Tyreek Hill and Chris Conley on easy deep routes. Then again, Kelce fumbled on the opening drive and Hill dropped a couple key passes that should have padded those stats.
The point is this: even on an imperfect day, the Chiefs offense can put up 40 yards and seemingly score at will—with only a single three-and-out on the afternoon. Mahomes has proven all season long that the Chiefs have never witnessed this kind of quarterback play up close—at least wearing their own colors. And even in a team’s darker days, his talent shines bright enough to win it.