Patrick Mahomes silences offseason doubters in first preseason game

Patrick Mahomes heard plenty of doubts and questions from outsiders this offseason, but he was already in midseason form in the Chiefs preseason opener.

Patrick Mahomes looked poised leading the Kansas City Chiefs‘ offense from very first snap on Saturday against the Chicago Bears. His one incompletion was nearly snagged for a touchdown intended for Marquez Valdez-Scantling. The Bears didn’t seem to have an answer for anything Mahomes wanted to do.

In 7 pass attempts, Mahomes spread the ball around to each skill position. Fullback, tight ends, and wide receivers can all anticipate being utilized often. Sixty passing yards later on a 72-yard drive and a receiving touchdown for Blake Bell would seal any doubts.

This offseason has produced a large volume of questions for the Kansas City signal caller. How will the Chiefs perform without Tyreek Hill? Is Tua Tagovailoa more accurate? Which team in the AFC West is going to take over? Is Patrick Mahomes a Tier 2 QB that’s heavily reliant on his first read?  Well those questions just happened to be answered immediately in Week 1 of the preseason.

Even though Mahomes was only on the field for 5 minutes and 37 seconds, he was in mid-season form. His performance proved ready to silence critics. The next chance to establish game reps with new weapons is scheduled for this Saturday at 3:00pm CT against the Washington Commanders. If Week 1 of the preseason is any indicator, it will be exciting watching this version of the Chiefs offense.

What is left to our imagination comes down to which players become utilized most frequently. As the team enters this new phase of spreading the ball around, it’s likely that a new leading receiver arises. Travis Kelce remains a focal point. Mecole Hardman has the most experience in this Andy Reid regime. Valdez-Scantling was targeted twice giving us a small sample size of what he can produce. Juju Smith-Schuster has had an extremely productive training camp thus far. Which player(s) outside of Kelce is Mahomes going to lean on to win games?