Kansas City Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 6-0 for the first time in his brilliant NFL Career. He also leads the league in interceptions and has managed just six touchdowns this season. Yet, behind the best defense in the NFL, the best head coach, and the grit of a 53-man roster that is in constant motion, they remain perfect on the season.
Patrick Mahomes was special on Sunday, but he’s taken his game to an unexpected level. We thought this team would again be a vertical threat when the Chiefs signed Hollywood Brown in free agency. That was accentuated when they drafted Xavier Worthy in the first round.
Since then, Brown might not return until December, Rashee Rice is out for the season, JuJu Smith-Schuster is likely out for a while, and running back Isiah Pacheco might not return until December.
Insert Kareem Hunt, Noah Gray, and Mecole Hardman, the stars on offense Sunday in the Chief’s 28-18 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Yet, Mahomes made the game’s most significant plays in the second half.
His 39-yard juke and move run down the sidelines late in the third quarter broke the back of the 49ers. A few plays later, Mahomes, facing a fourth and inches from the goal line, produced the best play of his career.
Head Coach Andy Reid decided to put the ball in the hand of his MVP as they lined up in shotgun formation. Mahomes surveyed the field as he backed up to the nine-yard line. With the offensive line pushing the 49ers defenders behind him and the receivers deep in the end zone, Mahomes darted for the end zone.
As he crossed the goal line, he leveled 49ers Safety Malik Mustapha with a shoulder into his body that crumbled the team’s hardest hitter. Mustapha nearly took out Xavier Worthy in the second quarter with a brutal hit, so Mahomes gave him a taste of his medicine.
Adding insult to injury, Mahomes looked down on Mustapha, and that moment embodied the toughness and awareness of the moment in the game when the rest of the NFL understood who the game’s toughest player was. It was a classic in-your-face moment that continues to redefine Mahomes.
Let’s be honest: Mahomes has played poorly this season. So much so, if not for the Chief’s excellent defense, this team might be 0-6. However, in each win this season, despite his struggles and the mounting injuries on offense, Mahomes understands that it’s not the quantity of making a big play; it’s the moment when it requires it to win a football game.
That’s what he’s done this season, and I’m convinced it doesn’t matter who is on the field with Mahomes; he will find a way to win with them. Mahomes isn’t the best quarterback in the NFL, but he’s the best at winning games.
Going forward, the Chief’s offense must find another pass-catcher or two. Nikko Remigio and Justyn Ross are laboring on the practice squad, but Reid didn’t promoted either, and Smith-Schuster entered the game with a sore hamstring.
Instead, he relied on Skyy Moore, who dropped his only pass target, and that can’t continue. Still, Mahomes doesn’t seem fazed by any of that roster injury mantra. All he needs is 12 men on offense doing their jobs reasonably well, and with the game on the line, he’ll break the hearts of his opponents.
As our reward, the Chiefs Kingdom has an NFL God in its midst, and for as long as he wears the KC uniform, we can expect more wins and Super Bowls because Mahomes doesn’t know how to lose.
As Captain James T. Kirk beat the unbeatable Kobayashi Maru simulation by reprogramming it, Mahomes has done the same, breaking the will of his NFL Klingons’ best defensive effort weekly.
