What an odd year it’s been for Patrick Mahomes ... and yet Chiefs are division champs
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes walked into Gillette Stadium nearly three hours before kickoff Sunday afternoon, wearing a checkered suit and sunglasses as he strolled through the venue.
The encore to an MVP season has arrived with obstacles — an dislocated kneecap on one leg, an ankle sprain on the other.
So what’s one more? Or how about two more?
The oddity first: As Mahomes rolled into the stadium, all of his game-day equipment lagged behind, traveling from New Jersey after a mix-up over the weekend affected about 35 Chiefs players and sent their gear to the wrong destination.
When Mahomes jogged onto the field for his initial warmup routine Sunday, he didn’t have his usual cleats. He didn’t have his hoodie. He didn’t have his warmup pants.
The only clothing he had, it seemed, was that suit.
“It was a crazy thing,” Mahomes said. “But I love the equipment guys. It was kind of a weird thing that happened there.”
It’s fitting for his year, really.
Since the Chiefs’ opening week in Jacksonville, Mahomes has encountered unforeseen circumstances capable of rocking the course of his season — of the Chiefs’ season, for that matter. He injured his ankle in Week 1 and re-injured it three weeks later. He dislocated his kneecap on a quarterback sneak and missed two games.
And then he didn’t have his familiar equipment until a couple of hours before kickoff Sunday, forced to scrape together a wardrobe with borrowed clothing.
And yet, here he is. Here the Chiefs are.
Kansas City beat the Patriots 23-16 Sunday in Foxborough, Mass., clinching a fourth straight AFC West championship and avenging last year’s playoff loss.
Ah, but let’s not forget the second hiccup. More than just an equipment issue.
Mahomes injured his throwing hand while bracing himself for a fall in the first quarter of Sunday’s win in New England. So on a day when he should’ve been celebrating his first victory against Tom Brady, arguably the best quarterback in NFL history, he instead walked into a side room in the bowels of Gillette Stadium, placing his hand on an x-ray machine.
“It doesn’t feel great right now,” Mahomes acknowledged, and it’s important to note he shrugged off the impact of the ankle sprain earlier this year. “It’s something that you play with. In this sport, you’re going to get hurt. For me, it’s about going out there and competing. I rely on my teammates to help me out whenever I’m not feeling maybe 100 percent.”
All of this tucks so neatly into Mahomes’ abnormal 2019, like a duplicate chapter in a redundant book. Fighting two more examples of the unexpected, Mahomes wasn’t at his best Sunday, and neither were the Chiefs.
Understandable, though. He had trouble gripping the football. As Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, “He kept missing with that hand. You know, he never says anything. He doesn’t make a big stink out of anything.”
But Mahomes admitted lacking his usual confidence to throw the ball deep down the field. He still did once, finding rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman on a 48-yard touchdown pass, even while falling sideways — almost a fadeaway throw. Mahomes finished 26 of 40 for 283 yards, one touchdown and an opening-drive interception.
The Chiefs managed only three points after halftime Sunday. The offense sputtered.
But despite all of it — the equipment, the injuries, the frustrations — Mahomes stood behind a makeshift podium late Sunday and dissected it while wearing an AFC West champions hat.
The Chiefs are the first team to knock off Brady’s Patriots here in 21 games, including the postseason. It’s the first victory for Mahomes in a heads-up matchup with Brady.
“You want to beat the best,” Mahomes said. “You want to go out and play against the best and give your best effort. But it’s a team game — your team has to beat his team. That’s a really good football team. This is a really tough environment to play in, and so for us to find a way to win a game — it wasn’t pretty the whole time; it was just a tough, hard-fought win.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 9:22 PM.