What Patrick Mahomes has accomplished in six seasons as Chiefs' starting quarterback is nothing short of remarkable. In much of Kansas City's history, receiving this kind of play from the signal caller was simply a dream. So far, Mahomes has earned six Pro Bowl nods, two All-Pro selections, as well as winning two NFL MVP awards. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls with him. And all three times that KC won, Mahomes was awarded Super Bowl MVP.
From a team perspective, the Chiefs have appeared in four total Super Bowls in the six seasons in which Mahomes has been the starter. Kansas City has appeared in the AFC Championship Game all six of those campaigns, to boot. The Chiefs were the host team of the AFC title game in the first five years of his starting run. As a result, Chiefs fans were jokingly calling the AFC Championship Game the Arrowhead Invitational.
While those accomplishments are already impressive, Patrick Mahomes has continuously stated that this team is not done. And obviously, Chiefs fans hope that he can play into his 40s to enjoy as much of his greatness as possible. Of course, there is a new goal or set of motivation for the upcoming season after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. Kansas City is hoping to become the first team in NFL history to three-peat.
Individually, Mahomes is not going to care as much as fans of his will, when it comes to numbers and statistical milestones. But entering the 2024 season, the possible milestones and benchmarks that he could reach all-time is fascinating to monitor. The potential milestones that he could meet involves both team and NFL history. And considering the upgrades that Kansas City made to the pass catching room this offseason, the Chiefs are hoping that his numbers this year can get back to an eye-popping status.
Franchise/Team Milestones Are Close In Sight
The great Len Dawson would have turned 89 years old this past week. Before Patrick Mahomes, no one touched the pinnacle that Dawson enjoyed as a Chiefs quarterback. He won Super Bowl IV with the Chiefs, of course. Overall, Dawson tallied 14 total seasons with the Chiefs franchise. He would play up until his age-40 season, finishing his career in Kansas City in 1975. Entering this upcoming 2024 campaign, Dawson still possesses Chiefs' franchise records in passing yards, passing touchdowns and fourth quarter comebacks, according to Pro Football Reference. It should be noted that these marks that Mahomes is chasing only includes regular season results.
As we sit just over two months from the start of the 2024 NFL regular season, it should not take long for Patrick Mahomes to surpass Dawson in Chiefs history for passing yards. With the KC franchise, Dawson totaled 28,507 passing yards. Mahomes has 28,424 passing yards with the Chiefs up to this point. As a result, Mahomes needs just 84 passing yards to pass Dawson for most passing yards in team history. That is something that could easily be accomplished in the first half of the Week 1 game this year.
The franchise passing touchdowns lead will take Mahomes a bit longer to track down. However, that is a category in team history that Patrick could easily become the leader in during this 2024 season. Dawson has the Chiefs' franchise record for passing touchdowns, with 237. Mahomes already has 219 passing touchdowns in his career so far. Therefore, he needs 19 more passing touchdowns to surpass Dawson in that area of team history.
The items of fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives may not be as buzzworthy, when it comes to statistical milestones. Nevertheless, Mahomes still has a great chance of becoming the franchise leader in those areas this upcoming season. Dawson had 15 fourth quarter comebacks during his Chiefs tenure. Meanwhile, Mahomes needs two more to pass him, as he has 14 fourth quarter comebacks to date. And interestingly, Mahomes is tied with Dawson and Trent Green for most game-winning drives in team history. Each member of that trio has produced 16 game-winning drives as Chiefs QB.
All-Time NFL Regular Season Ranks
Patrick Mahomes currently ranks 65th all-time in passing yards for the regular season. He is also 39th all-time in passing touchdowns for the regular season. So by no means, is Mahomes going to be top 10 in each category all-time when 2024 is over. Yet, the jumps that he can make up each leaderboard this year is quite intriguing.
Mahomes has averaged 4,690 passing yards per year over the last six years. If he hits that average again in 2024, the KC signal caller could jump up roughly 20 total spots in all-time passing yards for the NFL during the regular season. There are a couple of names that are currently playing that will also rise up a little bit. But in reality, Mahomes has a chance to be at least 45th all-time in career passing yards by hitting that average mark this year, via Pro Football Reference.
As far as passing touchdowns go, Mahomes has averaged 36.5 touchdown passes over the last six years. He could also jump up roughly 15 to 20 spots in all-time passing touchdowns for the NFL during the regular season by hitting that average number. Even if he does not crack the top 20 in this category all-time this year, the gap is very minimal to achieve that the following season. There are currently only 14 quarterbacks who have ever reached 300 career passing touchdowns in the regular season, according to Pro Football Reference. Mahomes needs 81 more to hit that mark. If all goes well for him, Mahomes could possibly reach that milestone by some point next season.
All-Time NFL Playoff Ranks
With the Chiefs being a constant contender for the Super Bowl, the playoff milestones are also key to monitor for Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is already eighth all-time in playoff passing yards for his career, via Pro Football Reference. He has tallied 573 passing yards or more in all of his single postseasons. Additionally, Mahomes has averaged 855.8 passing yards per postseason. Say he hits that average in the playoffs again this year, Mahomes would move up to either third or fourth place all-time in playoff passing yards for his career. The only active player ahead of him in this category for the postseason is Aaron Rodgers, sitting in fourth. Time will tell if he can add to his total this year, as well.
If you look at playoff passing touchdowns, Mahomes is already fifth all-time for that milestone in his career, per Pro Football Reference. With the Chiefs, he has already tallied 41 playoff passing touchdowns. He has had anywhere from three to 11 passing touchdowns in a single playoff run. Over just the last three postseasons, he has produced 24 touchdown passes. In total, Mahomes has averaged 6.8 passing touchdowns per postseason. If he hits that average in the playoffs again this year, Mahomes would move up to either second or third place all-time in playoff passing touchdowns for his career. Rodgers is the only active player ahead of him in this category, once again. If Rodgers is unable to add to that total, Mahomes needs just five more playoff passing touchdowns to pass all of Rodgers, Joe Montana and Brett Favre for second place.