Patrick Mahomes ended a 707-day streak on Sunday — and that’s a good thing
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- Patrick Mahomes ended a 707-day streak without a four-touchdown game.
- Mahomes credited improved offensive line protection for his strong execution.
- Mahomes became the youngest NFL player to reach 250 career touchdown passes.
Going into Sunday’s matchup against the Ravens, the last time Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw four touchdowns in a game was 707 days prior — in October 2023, during a 31-17 home win over the Chargers.
In other words, it sure had been a while.
Actually, four-touchdown games used to be relatively common for Mahomes. In 2023 (his sixth season as a starter), that game against the Chargers became his 17th career performance with at least four passing touchdowns.
So what cracked the code on Sunday, as Mahomes threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns in the team’s 37-20 win over the Ravens?
The beginning of the answer lies in the trenches.
“The offensive line blocked extremely well,” Mahomes said. “When that happens, you can get the football out and let guys make plays. We had a good job as far as scheme. I knew where to throw the ball on time and, other than a few plays I think at the beginning of the game, I thought we did a great job executing the whole day.”
The protection gave Mahomes ample time to work through his progressions regularly, resulting in at least one reception for nine different pass-catchers. One of them was the returning Xavier Worthy, who led the Chiefs with five catches for 83 receiving yards.
“I think having all those guys there, that helps,” head coach Andy Reid said. “You start getting guys back in there and mixing it up.”
Mahomes set the tone for Worthy with their deep 37-yard connection early, but the two vintage Mahomes throws came later — a fade in the second quarter to Travis Kelce and his fourth and final touchdown to Hollywood Brown in the fourth quarter.
On that second-and-10 throw to Kelce, the Ravens brought two extra rushers. Like a three-point shooter, Mahomes faded away only to float a perfect pass in Kelce’s bucket.
“We knew it was cover zero and then it’s about your guy just winning a one-on-one,” Mahomes said. “I’m going to give my guys chances down the field and Trav’s shown for years that he can win those matchups.”
The Chiefs set up the fourth-and-1 dagger to Brown with a bootleg, freeing Mahomes to roll out to his right and complete the throw on the run. “We wanted to go for it,” Mahomes said. “We wanted to kind of put that final ending on the game. We were talking in the huddle, and I could see (Kyle) Hamilton was gonna be on that side, so I wanted JuJu (Smith-Schuster) to give me kind of a pick. We knew it was probably a Cover-0-type look.
“He was the last read, but I told Hollywood in the huddle, ‘Man, if it’s Cover-0, you gotta win. You got to win across the field.’
“He did that. He beat a good corner and won and was able to get a touchdown.” With that throw, the 707-day drought for a four-touchdown game came to a close.
“We saw man, fourth down,” Brown said. “I knew if I could get in Pat’s vision, I’d have a chance for a score, and he was looking for me, so that was good.
“You felt it all week in practice — just being in our spots, being in precision. He was telling us, ‘Be in our spots, and you gonna get the ball there,’ and he was on the money today.”
On his way to four touchdowns, Mahomes’ second to Isiah Pacheco crossed another milestone: on it, Mahomes became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 250 touchdowns.
“It’s phenomenal. That’s incredible,” Reid said upon hearing the news. “Whatever you write good about him, he deserves, man, let me tell you. You can give him everything. That joker is unbelievable. We’re lucky to have him.”
Here’s to hoping this was enough.
