Off-kilter for weeks, Patrick Mahomes went into a snow globe and found himself
Through most of his first two full seasons as a starter, the phenom that dreams are made of had put up preposterous numbers and created a series of mesmerizing plays.
But for three straight weeks entering the Chiefs’ 23-3 victory against Denver Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, Patrick Mahomes had generated generally pedestrian numbers — including career-low yardage in back-to-back games and few if any plays that will go on his lifetime achievement reel.
That was understandable enough in many ways.
Surging defense has allowed the Chiefs to play complementary football on each side of the ball, and adapting to the flow of the game had reeled in the offense some.
Then there has been the lingering impact of a ghastly knee injury in October and the balky ankle that’s repeatedly been aggravated. Accumulated fatigue had been grinding down his footwork fundamentals. Oh, and he was left unable to grip the football properly after having his right throwing hand jammed into the turf a week ago at New England.
The pure magic that had seized us all wasn’t gone, of course. But its presence hadn’t been evident, either.
In a frigid snow bowl Sunday, though, it snapped back in a brand new way, really. And with it came a reaffirming reminder that somehow, even after all of Mahomes’ spectacular moments, his ability to surprise us remains intact … and a crucial part of the ongoing reason to believe that’s attached to a team seeking the franchise’s first Super Bowl in half a century.
Out of sync as Mahomes and the offense had been, no one could have figured they’d have a revival in blustery snow with a wind chill of 15 degrees at kickoff.
But no one should ever shrug off The Mahomes Factor, either.
So here was Mahomes feathering a 41-yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill on the first drive of the game and completing 15 of 20 passes for 210 yards in the first half and connecting with Travis Kelce 11 times for 142 yards and finishing 27 of 34 for 340 yards … even with the offense relegated to just draining clock in the fourth quarter.
That’s hard to do against air, as coaches like to put it, let alone in wretched conditions.
“He was winging it, now. Those weren’t just balls … like shot puts that you usually see in the snow or in a really bad rain game,” Kelce said. “I’ve never seen anybody throw the ball like that in the snow, that’s for sure.”
For his part, Hill wasn’t sure what the fuss even was.
“I mean, he’s the GOAT. He’s the MVP, man,” Hill said of Mahomes. “No condition can dictate how far he throws.”
Just the same, there was some mind over matter here. Mahomes recalled never having playing in snow until last season’s playoffs. He remembered fretting over that at the time, only to realize that the snow actually made the ball “pretty sticky.”
“And you can kind of spin it,” he said. “Knowing that going in and having that experience before, I leaned on that.”
But there was something more encouraging yet.
One of the issues gunking up the Chiefs’ offense lately had been Mahomes’ increasing tendency to drift too soon out of the pocket, something that has been habitual for him late in seasons, he said earlier this week.
But there was little if any drift Sunday, even in the snow, an indication that Mahomes was able to achieve what he emphasized last week and a development that bodes well for the weeks to come.
“I think I did a pretty good job,” he said. “Obviously, there were still times I felt I drifted a little too much. But I thought I did a better job of stepping up into the pocket. And I think you can see it really helped out the O-line when they were walling (off the Broncos) and I stepped up through there. …
“You can see how much better and more efficient the offense is when I do that and trust in these guys and get to my second and third reads instead of getting stuck on my first one.”
A case in point that in some ways folds it all together: When the Broncos dropped eight men into coverage on a Chiefs two-point conversion attempt, Mahomes saw “a lot of people in that end zone,” he said with a smile. As he scrambled and did a little do-si-do, Sammy Watkins kept working to get open.
“He wasn’t really in the read,” Mahome said. “He just found a way to get himself open.”
Short as the pass was, the ad-libbing and nimbleness still made for one of those “wow” moments from Mahomes that we’ve become so used to and dependent on ... but hadn’t seen a lot of in recent weeks.
That touchdown and conversion to open the third quarter accounted for the final score, and for all purposes was the knockout punch for the Broncos, beaten by the Chiefs for a ninth straight time — including all five of Mahomes’ starts against them.
With the revitalized defense now having allowed a total of 45 points in Kansas City’s last four games, the Chiefs (10-4) have been trending toward the sort of complete football that can create unforgettable memories.
And even if it seemed inevitable the offense would return to the baseline of what has been customary with Mahomes at the helm, seeing it happen still was a reassuring statement about what the Chiefs might have here.
“I mean,” Kelce said, “he’s a special guy.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2019 at 6:36 PM.