‘Another heroic performance.’ National praise for Patrick Mahomes after win in Denver

It wasn’t just Chiefs fans who raved about quarterback Patrick Mahomes leading a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown drives in Monday’s 27-23 victory in Denver.

Members of the national media also had high praise for Mahomes. It’s not the first time, writers from across the country have hailed Mahomes’ performance. This time, however, some people who were on the fence about Mahomes are now believers.

Here is a sample of what people were saying or writing about Mahomes.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote a story with the headline, “Patrick Mahomes, franchise quarterback.”

“Week Four began with Rams quarterback Jared Goff making it clear that, yes, he’s a franchise quarterback,” Florio wrote. “Week Four ended with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes making it clear that, yes, he’s a franchise quarterback, too.

“Mahomes led the Broncos back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit with a cool head, nimble feet, a razor-sharp eye for who is and isn’t open, and an uncanny ability to deliver the ball with just the right velocity and touch to keep drives going — despite whatever adversity he may be facing. He’s so smooth that he at one point threw the ball left handed, and it took ESPN a full 30 seconds to realize what they’d just witnessed. ...

“He’ll be doing it for much more than a decade in Kansas City, and the Chiefs will contend in every game and every season of his career, as long as he can stay healthy.

“The golden age of young franchise quarterbacks is here, and the Chiefs have one of the very best. Get used to seeing those red helmets in prime time for the foreseeable future, because Mahomes makes every game exciting, whether early in the game or late.”

Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com wrote: “Mahomes’ night can’t be summed up in numbers or metrics, but this stat from the ESPN broadcast comes pretty damn close. The Chiefs quarterback threw for 192 yards outside of the pocket on Monday night, the most by any quarterback in the past decade. The Brett Favre comparisons are easy to make, especially when Mahomes is completing passes ambidextrously and launching rifles off balance at obtuse angles like the former Packers legend. But it’s hard not to make them. The only difference? Mahomes doesn’t turn the ball over. Through four games, he has a 14:0 TD-to-INT ratio. Mahomes is pacing the MVP race ahead of Jared Goff and Khalil Mack — and the gap’s not small.”

ESPN’s Michael Wilbon, co-host of “Pardon The Interruption,” tweeted after the game: “It’s real damn difficult to be a skeptic after watching Mahomes do THAT...on the road, against a blood rival, as a rookie, in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.”

Mahomes isn’t a rookie, of course, but it was just his fifth NFL start, so we can cut Wilbon some slack.

Rany Jazayerli, who is a self-proclaimed Chiefs fan, wrote about Mahomes for The Ringer. Here is an excerpt: “There’s almost no point in reviewing this season’s games, because if you haven’t seen the highlights of Mahomes lighting up the league like the Griswold house at Christmas, you probably don’t follow the NFL. The numbers are a theater of the absurd. He had four touchdown passes in Week 1, six (tying [Len] Dawson’s franchise record) in Week 2, and only three in Week 3 — but with two Hunt rushing scores mixed in, as the Chiefs’ offense had a literally perfect first half and tallied 35 points on five possessions.

“Along the way, he’s changed how I and Chiefs fans everywhere see the world. Third-and-long no longer fills us with despair. We no longer assume that not only will the Chiefs fail to convert a first down, but they won’t even try — that they’ll settle for an 8-yard gain and better field position when Dustin Colquitt punts it away. ...

“For 30 years, whenever I saw a quarterback launch a 30-yard completion after being forced to scramble on third-and-long, it was thrown by the guy playing against the Chiefs. Now, that QB is on our team.”

Chris Thompson of Deadspin authored a story with the headline, “Improvised lefty pass highlights another heroic performance from the unreal Patrick Mahomes.”

Thompson wrote: “Monday night’s Chiefs-Broncos game was very, very fun, featuring more superhuman play from the impossibly good Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes completed 13 of 16 passes in the fourth quarter and engineered two long touchdown drives to bring the Chiefs back from a 23–13 deficit and into the lead. He completed passes on third-and-16, fourth-and-one, first-and-20, third-and-one, third-and-five, second-and-30, and third-and-seven. You truly take no pleasure in describing it this way, but he looked poised out there! The poise was just off the charts.”

Bucky Brooks of the NFL Network made the Mahomes-Brett Favre comparison: “The way @Chiefs players rave about Mahomes is eerily similar to the way we used to talk about Favre when he won 3 straight MVPs w/ @Packers in the mid-1990s . No.4 gave us “hope”.. We knew we just needed to give him a shot & he could win it.. No.15 gives KC belief..That’s Rare”

Business Insider’s Scott Davis wrote a story with the headline, “The Chiefs took a big gamble by trading up for Patrick Mahomes, and now it looks like a steal.”

Davis wrote: “Through five career stars, Mahomes has the look of a franchise quarterback. In 2018 alone, Mahomes has thrown for 1,200 yards, 14 touchdowns, 0 interceptions and completed 65% of his passes while posting a 126.5 passer rating.

“Few could have seen this coming from Mahomes — except for maybe the Chiefs.

“The Chiefs took a gamble by drafting Mahomes in the 2017 draft. The consensus among experts varied, with most believing Mitch Trubisky was the top prospect, with either Mahomes or DeShaun Watson second. The Chiefs ultimately moved up from the 27th pick in the draft, trading a third-rounder and 2018 first-rounder to the Buffalo Bills to take Mahomes with the 10th pick.”

In what should be a surprise to no one, Peter Schrager of the NFL Network had high praise for Mahomes.

“I was blown away by the way he handled adversity last night,” Schraeger said. “You can’t find a more hostile than Denver. You can’t find a fanbase that hates a fanbase more than the way Broncos fans hate the Chiefs. You can’t find a better defense that is just salivating to beat this kid. He found a way. It’s amazing the final two drives: 13 of 16 for 153 yards and a touchdown.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 11:33 AM.