KC Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill are the best QB-WR duo

Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill had themselves a day in Tampa Bay in the KC Chiefs’  27-24 win over the Buccaneers.

Going into the Kansas City Chiefs/Tampa Bay Buccaneers game, there was no shortage of storylines. The top of that list was the duel between the young hotshot and future of the league Patrick Mahomes, going up against the 43-year old proclaimed GOAT Tom Brady for only the fourth time in Mahomes’ career.

It’s no secret that the Chiefs boast one of the most loaded offenses in the AFC and some might consider the Bucs their NFC equivalent, with a litany of weapons being signed to the Bucs during the offseason for Brady to work with.

Anyway, with plenty of narratives to follow going into Sunday’s game, in typical Chiefs fashion, they wrote a brand new narrative during the game and had most of it written in the first quarter in fact.

In most Chiefs games, it is very common that at least one player will have a big game, and to say Tyreek Hill had a big game would be an understatement. Hill had a huge game, and what made it more impressive is that nearly all of it came in the first quarter alone.

In the first quarter alone, Hill had seven catches for 203 yards and two touchdown catches, including a 75-yard bomb from Mahomes that marked the Chiefs’ longest pass play this season. Not but a few minutes after that, he would add a 44-yard touchdown, making him only the third player since 1980 to post 200 yards or more in a single quarter, and the first since Lee Evans did it in 2006.

It was a career day for the most dynamic receiver in the league, but what is beneficial to Hill, Mahomes is responsible for, and vice versa. While Tom Brady struggled to connect with his receivers in the first quarter, Mahomes and Hill were playing a stellar game of catch up and down Raymond James Stadium.

With less than two minutes to go and the Chiefs with possession, they had 3rd and 7 and needed only one first down to put this game away, and wasn’t it poetic that Mahomes threw an eight-yard pass to none other than Tyreek Hill. The one player other than Mahomes himself who had been so instrumental in achieving the victory over Brady and the Bucs, caught the final pass to seal the deal.

While Mahomes and Hill were the storylines in the first quarter, Hill’s production dropped slightly as Mahomes began to spread it around to his other playmakers, dialing up tight end Travis Kelce eight times for 82 yards, and in a couple of situations where getting that first down was absolutely crucial, Mahomes showed off his scrambling abilities, totaling four rushes for 28 yards.

Every last one of those 28 yards was hard-fought and extremely valuable to what became a very close game. Mahomes did throw one pick as mentioned above, but thanks to a roughing the passer penalty by the Bucs, Mahomes’ one major blemish was removed from the game, making this another game that is helping to build onto what is looking to be his second MVP campaign in three years.

Mahomes has now faced Brady four times on two different teams, and the last two times he has faced him (both on the Patriots and the Bucs) Mahomes has emerged victorious. Brady is still the GOAT, and I don’t think anyone would deny that.

Last season Brady was rather bereft of weapons, so an excuse could have been made, but not on Sunday. Brady played well, and at times looked brilliant with a deep ball to Antonio Brown, but he was outplayed by Mahomes. The torch has been passed and the future of the league is clear, and its name is Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs host the Broncos in a divisional match up under the lights of Sunday Night Football this coming Sunday, back in the friendly confines of Arrowhead Stadium. It is critically important that the Chiefs do not let themselves experience a let down coming off a high octane win against a good team, only to go home and face a team that didn’t have a quarterback in their blowout loss.

Regardless of how the Broncos have looked this season, they will be looking to spoil the Chiefs’ fun at Arrowhead Stadium, much like the Raiders did. Mahomes and company need to make sure that doesn’t happen. Hopefully, for the Broncos’ sake, they have a quarterback this time.