Six encouraging signs from KC Chiefs win over Pittsburgh Steelers
Patrick Mahomes Went Off
I’m not going to lie to you. The Chiefs offense and Patrick Mahomes made me nervous the first few drives. They were tight and you could tell things just weren’t clicking. Then the Darrel Williams fumble that was returned for a touchdown seemed to light a fire under Mahomes and the offense. From that point on the Chiefs were virtually unstoppable, reeling off six straight touchdown drives.
How hot was Patrick Mahomes? Check out this nugget from ESPN’s Stats and Info:
Patrick Mahomes threw 5 Pass TD in a span of 10:30 of game time. It's easily the fastest span in NFL postseason history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 17, 2022
The next fastest? Tom Brady did it in just under 25 minutes in 2011.
h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/85KneA6ms0
Earlier in the season when Mahomes and the offense were struggling a little, they seemed to lose their confidence. They were pressing and that’s how it looked on the first couple of drives against the Steelers. The encouraging sign for K.C. is that Mahomes and the offense fixed that in a big way. The Mahomes we saw after the Steelers defensive score was as good as any version of Mahomes that we have seen—and that is saying something. He finished the night 30 of 39 for 404 yards and FIVE touchdowns.
The Chiefs are going to need this version of Mahomes if they are going to beat the Bills next week. While a bye week would have been nice, I’m glad Mahomes got his early game issues out of the way against a team like the Steelers. If the first snap of playoff football this postseason had been against the Bills and Mahomes started slow it could have been an issue. Now Mahomes can go into this showdown with Josh Allen riding a hot streak and hopefully come out firing. If that happens I love K.C.’s chances.
Now let’s talk about Mahomes’ top weapons for a second.