Patrick Mahomes silences his critics with display as NFL's best against Raiders

It's been hard to find too much fault with the Kansas City Chiefs so far this season. After all, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions are the only undefeated team in the NFL. Despite that, there have been many "experts" that have expressed doubt about the Chiefs this season in large part because Patrick Mahomes hadn't been playing at his usual high level. However, that wasn't the case on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.

We could argue all day about how fair it is to say that Mahomes hadn't been playing well through the Chiefs' first six games. He certainly wasn't putting up the types of numbers that we've grown accustomed to and he entered the game Sunday with just 6 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. That said, Mahomes has consistently come through when needed and found a way to help KC gut out wins.

The critics have chirped up in 2024, but Patrick Mahomes' performance in Week 8 silenced anyone who doubts his supremacy.

If there are people who were trying to convince themselves that Mahomes wasn't the same elite quarterback anymore, his game against the Raiders didn't help their cause. He was 27-38 (71% completions) for 262 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. That interception came on a deflected pass and wasn't a bad play by Mahomes. He also added 17 yards rushing, picking up a couple of key first downs in the process.

The Raiders are 2-6 now and aren't an elite team, but they always seem to play the Chiefs tough regardless of the circumstance. I made the case before the game that this could be a trap game for the Chiefs, and it certainly looked that way at times, but not because of anything Mahomes was doing. Despite getting the Raiders' best effort, Mahomes looked like the quarterback we've watched win the last two Super Bowls, someone who is calm and in complete control of the game.

While newly acquired DeAndre Hopkins did play some in this game, he was definitely not up to speed. Hopkins looked like he is going to be a natural fit for the Chiefs, so things should only get better once he is "all systems go" in this offense. Mahomes was able to get a vintage performance out of Travis Kelce on National Tight Ends Day. Kelce's 10 receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown was, by far, his best outing of the year.

If Mahomes plays like he did on Sunday and has any kind of consistent production from Hopkins and Kelce going forward, his numbers are bound to climb from here. Plus, production from Hopkins and Kelce should open things up even more for people like Xavier Worthy and Noah Gray who continue to do a nice job of contributing here and there. The only potential worries for this offense is everyone else staying healthy and the questions they have at left tackle.

Even if Mahomes' numbers don't climb a lot, his "poor play" is grossly exaggerated because of the high bar he has set for himself. He's currently on pace for a 68.4% completion percentage (which would be a career-best) and while his 7.3 yards per attempt would be below his career average, it's already better than the 7.0 he posted last season. He's also on pace to throw for 4,000 yards. While that's a long way off from his career high of 5,250, if you listen to the national narrative about how KC has been winning with their defense and run game, you would think those yardage numbers would be well shy of 4,000.

If you want a single stat that points to how well Mahomes is playing, look at Kansas City's third-down conversion numbers. The Chiefs converted 12 of 16 third downs against the Raiders. If you combine that with the 8 of 14 third downs they converted against the San Francisco 49ers last week, they've been a combined 20 of 30 on third down since their bye week. Converting two-thirds of your third downs is fantastic. If the Chiefs can maintain anything near that level down the stretch they will be incredibly difficult to beat, especially with their defense.

Patrick Mahomes may not be having the best statistical year of his career, but with the Chiefs sitting at 7-0 and him coming off one of his best games of the year, nobody in Chiefs Kingdom is complaining. If his critics want to continue to "poke the bear" and take shots at him because of how his overall stat sheet looks, they are setting themselves up for disappointment. The Mahomes we saw on Sunday looked ready to compete for a third straight Super Bowl, and if the addition of DeAndre Hopkins pans out and the left tackle situation calms down, the rest of the NFL should be afraid—very afraid.