Patrick Mahomes propels Kansas City Chiefs to victory once again

Not that it’s a surprise, but Patrick Mahomes is to thank for why the Kansas City Chiefs avoided a sweep to the Raiders.

For many years now, the Kansas City Chiefs‘ rivalry with the Raiders had stagnated for all but the most hardcore fans of each franchise. Raider fans will deny this, but the main reason for that is that for many years the Chiefs thoroughly dominated the Raiders year in and year out.

Sure the Raiders might sneak off with a surprise win every now and then, but since their overall standings were so low in the division and in the league, it made little to no difference if they squeaked out a W here and there. Last season, the Chiefs overcame an early deficit at the Oakland Coliseum and ended up trampling the Raiders in the first meeting of 2019.

When the Raiders traveled to Arrowhead in December they did not stand a chance. The Raiders finished the season 7-9 and missed the playoffs, while the Chiefs finished the season 12-4 and hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. It was assumed by most (myself included) that this season would be much the same and that the Raiders’ successful draft and their relocation to their new digs in Las Vegas would make no difference, and well… you know what they say about assuming.

The bad news is, the Raiders started out the season by beating the Chiefs in Arrowhead and taking a lap around the stadium to celebrate. The good news is, with that beating and that lap around the parking lot, one of the greatest rivalries in the NFL has been reignited, and it is not a slow burn — That baby has already caught fire.

Under the lights of Sunday Night Football, smack dab in the middle of Sin City, Patrick Mahomes and Derek Carr were like two gunslingers in the desert, pistols were drawn and oh were the shots fired. It was evident right out of the gate that this would be a fight, much like the earlier game in Arrowhead, and it proved to be even more intense.

First, credit must be given where credit is due. Regardless of how you may feel about the jersey that Carr was wearing, the fact is he had an almost flawless performance. Carr went 23-of-31 for  275 yards and three touchdown passes. He had complete and total command of his offense the entire game and pretty much did whatever he wanted against the Chiefs defense.

Not only have Gruden and Carr seemed to have found the cheat codes for the Chiefs defense, but Carr also had all night to make every pass. I mean that man could have been counting his money from the gambling table the night before in the pocket and still had time to find his receivers. The Chiefs just had zero pressure on him all night.

Indeed the only mistakes made by the Raiders’ offense all night were dropped passes. All those praises being sung, I said almost flawless, and the almost came right when the Chiefs needed it most. The Chiefs had just scored, making the score 35-31, and giving the Raiders 28 seconds to answer the score, and surely the Chiefs defense could hold up for 28 seconds… right?

The answer is yes. Carr rolled the dice and it came up snake eyes as he threw his pass directly to Dirty Dan Sorenson, sealing the victory for the Chiefs. Now let’s talk about the reason the Chiefs were in that position in the first place, and his name is Patrick Mahomes.

I feel like these next words are stated after many Chiefs games, but the truth is truth and facts are facts and until that is no longer the case, it can’t really be overstated. If the Chiefs didn’t have Mahomes, the game would have been lost and it probably wouldn’t even have been close. Even a good quarterback might not have been able to get a victory for the Chiefs against an all of a sudden really good Raiders team that has the phone number and home address of the Chiefs defense.

Luckily for the Kansas City Chiefs, they have Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes employed his two best weapons against a Raider defense that did not have an answer for them all night in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. Hill caught 11 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, while Kelce showed once again why he is the best tight end in football with eight catches for 127 yards and a touchdown grab of his own.

Mahomes spent the evening connecting with Kelce in ways that only that matchup could accomplish (except for possibly an early Brady and Gronk) and leaving the Raiders defense entirely befuddled. A healthy dose of the running game was thrown in as well, as Clyde Edwards-Helaire gashed the Raiders for 69 yards, and Le’Veon Bell scored his first touchdown as a Chief on a seven-yard run.

Indeed the only time the Chiefs’ offense seemed to stall is when they were shooting themselves in the foot with penalties. Unfortunately, while Mahomes was brilliant, he was also only almost perfect.

Near the end of the second quarter, as the Chiefs were looking like they might take their first lead and some momentum into the locker room, Mahomes threw only his second interception on the two-yard line, a mere two yards from the sweet nectar of the end zone. A disappointing end to the half, but his stats still show 27 touchdown passes and only two picks on the season, so that is a pretty good ratio wouldn’t you say?

Mahomes finished the duel in the desert going 34-of-45 for 348 yards and two touchdowns, outshooting his very worthy adversary. Mahomes’ ability to read defenses and improvise is rapidly improving with every outing, and he is the most clutch player in football.

With less than two minutes to go, the Chiefs had a 28-24 lead, but the Raiders were banging on the door of the Chiefs end zone, and I just wanted them to score. Listen, the Chiefs defense hadn’t stopped the Raiders all night, so any Chiefs fan worth his favorite barbecue sauce knew they were going to get that touchdown, it was just a matter of how long would they leave Mahomes and the offense to score.

Sure enough, the Raiders punched it in, making the score 31-28 Raiders, with roughly 1:45 to go… that is an age for Mahomes and the Chiefs, who proceeded to put together a game-winning drive, that was capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass to Kelce in the end zone.

Whenever you are actually rooting for the other team to score, just to get the ball back in the hands of one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the position, that is because your quarterback is the most clutch player in the league. It is not a question of will he score, but what manner will the touchdown come and who will catch the pass.

What the rest of the league has learned, and what Chiefs Kingdom already firmly believes, is that as long as No. 15 is taking the snaps, the Chiefs are never out of it. Does that mean they will always win, of course not, but don’t ever count them out until the clock reads all zeros.

This was a hard-fought game, and the two-game series with the Raiders in 2020 has completely reignited a passionate firey rivalry that has laid dormant for many years. The Chiefs need to not bask in the glory of their victory for too long because next week they travel to Florida to face a host of characters in Tampa Bay.

Mahomes will need to be all he was on Sunday night and more to come out with a victory.