Contrary to the popular saying, sometimes it IS how you start. Sunday in Kansas City Patrick Mahomes and The Chiefs beat The Browns 33-29 in arguably the biggest matchup of week one of the regular season. These two teams actually met in the divisional round of the playoffs last year so Cleveland's last two games they've played have been losses on the road in Kansas City. But take heart Cleveland, you're not alone. The win Sunday was The Chiefs 11th straight in the month of September. With Patrick Mahomes under center The Chiefs have never lost a September game, a perfect 11-0. The Chiefs have actually won 7 straight week one games so their early success pre-dates Mahomes a little as he didn't start a September game until 2018, but he is the biggest reason why the team is absolutely untouchable out of the gate. And it's not just that The Chiefs win in September, it's what Mahomes is doing to help them win. Let me try and put into context for you.
In the win Sunday Mahomes threw for 337 yards, had 3 passing touchdowns, ran for another touchdown and didn't throw a single interception. That means Mahomes numbers during this incredible September streak are as follows: 35 touchdown passes, over 3600 passing yards ,leading the team to an average of 34 points per game and thrown a grand total of zero interceptions in all 11 straight September wins. I guess you could bang him if you want on coming up one short of his September point total, but these are freakishly insane numbers we're talking about here. These are Madden video game stats not actual NFL game stats. The most impressive number is actually the smallest one as in no interceptions, especially when playing in a pass happy offense in Kansas City in a pass happy league in the NFL. Now when you are this other worldly good people will actually go to amazing lengths to try and tell you what you're seeing isn't what you're seeing. I've actually seen clips on social media of several of Mahomes passes put together where the defenders had a chance to make an interception and didn't, calling them dropped interceptions. That is a very fancy way of saying... they weren't interceptions. It would also be like calling punts a non made 1st down or a field goal a non made touchdown, which of course is patently ridiculous. It either is or it isn't, there's no grey area here. As Hall of Fame Coach Bill Parcells once perfectly stated "you are what your record says you are".
And speaking of Hall of Famers, heres what else Patrick Mahomes did Sunday. He broke Hall of Famer Kurt Warner's record for the most passing yards in a QB's first 50 starts while simultaneously breaking Hall of Famer Dan Marino's record for the most passing touchdowns in a QBs first 50 starts. Now would be a good time to tell you Mahomes did it 47 games. I mentioned the "gotta find a flaw" crowd right? Well here is where they would say " yeah but the game is so geared towards passing now that it's easier to set these kinds of records". They are absolutely right, but last time I checked only one dude was doing it. Mahomes is coming for all the records and as long as he stays healthy he might get them all.
One other note about Sunday's performance. The Chiefs were down in that game 15-3 and 22-10 before taking the lead in the 4th quarter and getting the win. That makes it the 10th time in his young career that Mahomes has led Kansas City to win when falling behind by double digits. Nothing of course will top. the playoff game a couple of years ago when Kansas City fell behind to Houston 24-0 before coming back to win. They actually had the lead by halftime in that one which of course is preposterously Mahomes-ish. How long will this September streak go on? Who knows, it has to end sometime right? But until it does I'm going to adopt the same philosophy I have about the streak that I have about Tom Brady eventually slowing down: I believe it's going to happen but I haven't seen any evidence of it just yet.
