Mahomes Is Back As Order Is Restored In AFC After Chiefs Win

We knew Patrick Mahomes was lurking throughout the offseason, but it was still hard to believe the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback would return to form after offseason knee surgery. Surely it would take Mahomes time to find himself, which would give the rest of the top teams in the AFC a chance to reestablish themselves. 

Nope. Mahomes is back and looking similar to the player who won multiple Super Bowls earlier in this decade. The quarterback has been saying he wasn’t thinking about his knee at all for a couple of weeks now, and it’s clearly time to believe him. 

The play that proved Mahomes was back happened late in the fourth quarter, according to Michael Silver of the Athletic. The Chiefs were down two to the Las Vegas Raiders with 3:35 left in the game when Mahomes realized that the Raiders were about to bring a “zero” blitz that left rookie safety Treydan Stukes in single coverage against receiver Tyquan Thorton, and the quarterback delivered a 40-yard strike that helped determine the outcome. 

Mahomes didn’t take a lot of credit for this, saying he simply had to give Thornton a chance to make a play. Thornton caught the ball for a 55-yard gain, although the grisly ankle injury that followed when Stukes pulled him down could have a profound effect on the rest of the Chiefs’ season. 

That injury was tough to watch, but the Chiefs handled it and took care of business. Running back Kenneth Walker III scored on a short touchdown run shortly after the play, and Walker followed up that touchdown with a 22-yard TD run 19 seconds later as he bounced a play outside and helped seal the 30-27 win. 

The Cheifs are now 4-0, and the only other two undefeated teams at this point are over in the AFC. Kansas City gets an early bye this week, which should help them figure out their receiver situation with Thornton almost certainly gone for the season. 

What’s helping Mahomes back to his usual position of dominance is his new weapon. The quarterback was visibly frustrated in the first half, with the Raiders applying pressure and the Chiefs struggling in the red zone in the second quarter. 

But Walker made plays to go with Mahomes big strike to Thornton, and it juiced up an attack that becomes toothless when the quarterback is forced to do it all by himself. That’s bad news for the rest of the AFC, which is now in a familiar position of trying to catch up.