Patrick Mahomes named AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week

It’s Wednesday, which means we’re all made privy to the official Players of the Week in each conference, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was named the AFC’s Offensive Player for Week 10.

It’s hard for a quarterback to have a better week than what Mahomes did against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night. It was one of the biggest stages a quarterback can perform on—in primetime on Sunday Night Football in a highly-anticipated showdown with a bitter rival for the division lead. In response, Mahomes rose to the occasion with five touchdown passes and zero turnovers to go with 406 passing yards after completing 35 of 50 passes.

With the win, Mahomes and the Chiefs went from tied for last place in a hyper-competitive AFC West to first place and in full control of their own playoff destiny after doubters predicted they’d actually miss the postseason only a few weeks ago—before the team began their current three-game win streak.

Patrick Mahomes has earned another AFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

During some of the Chiefs’ struggles (and even some recent wins), Mahomes has been a major part of that, as part of an overall stalled offense that failed to produce the points and yards expected of such a talented unit. Despite the presence of Mahomes along with NFL greats like wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce, the Chiefs averaged a pitiful 12 points per game from Weeks 7-9.

Seeing Mahomes put on such a tremendous performance also gives Chiefs Kingdom plenty of hope moving forward that the team has figured out some of the ills that plagued them as they worked out wrinkles of one kind or another. Whether there were play calling issues to work out, trust and chemistry concerns, or adjustments to make based on personnel, the Chiefs seem to have righted the ship—or at least they were able to figure some things out against a now-flailing Raiders franchise.

As for the AFC’s other winners, Indianapolis Colts linebacker E.J. Speed won Special Teams Player of the Week while Miami Dolphins corner Xavien Howard won the week’s Defensive Player of the Week award.