Walker Is Now Making History As Mahomes Becomes Blocker

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes certainly is enjoying watching new running back Kenneth Walker III, but occasionally Mahomes has to do more than just stand back and enjoy the show. Mahomes nearly became a blocker on one of Walker’s impressive runs against the Chargers on Sunday, according to an account written by Jesse Newell of The Athletic. 

It happened in the second quarter of Kansas City’s 22-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, when Walker temporarily broke free on a run to the right side. Defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson had Walker wrapped up, but Mahomes knew the play wasn’t over, as he noted after the game that “the first guy never tackles him.” 

That meant Mahomes had a job to do. He knew a backside defender would be coming after Walker when he broke free, so Mahomes sort of shuffled over to get in the way of Chargers linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu, who was the first to arrive in the pursuit. 

His move worked, remarkably enough. Mahomes did just enough to give Walker a way to follow in his path, and the result was a touchdown as Walker dove into the end zone. 

It was another superby performance by Walker, who’s really testing our ability to find the appropriate superlatives. He rushed for 128 yards and two TDs against the Chargers, and as a result he’s now entering historic territory, per Newell. 

Specifically, Walker became the sixth back in NFL history to have at least 750 scrimmage yards and eight touchdowns in his first five games, and his company there is Jim Brown, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk and Emmitt Smith, along with former Chiefs star Priest Holmes. 

It was also Walker’s fourth multi-touchdown performance in five games, and they only other player to do that is Hall of Fame receiver Calvin Johnson Jr. with the Detroit Lions. 

We’re going to be pulling names and numbers like this for a while from the looks of it, but Mahomes also made another point that’s just as relevant. Walker is making the quarterback’s job easier, and Newell pointed out that the Chiefs went into Sunday’s game with major personnel issues up front and among the receiving corps, and tight end Travis Kelce tweaked his ankle in the firs quarter. 

No matter. The Chiefs still had Walker, who took some of the pressure off Mahomes until he could start to find a couple of his secondary receivers, and the result was a balanced performance against an inept team that’s become one of the best in the NFL at handing over games.