kansascity
As Patrick Mahomes reviewed film for the upcoming game against the Los Angeles Chargers last week, he encountered a sequence he had deliberately avoided for nearly ten months: the play that ended his 2023 season. The injury occurred on the same field and against the same opponent. After refusing to watch it, Mahomes felt compelled to understand what had gone wrong. "You speed it up pretty quickly," he said of the replay.
The Chiefs' 22-6 victory over the Chargers on Sunday was far more lopsided than the score suggests, as Kansas City turned red-zone trips into touchdowns. Despite missing two wide receivers, the Chiefs posted their best per-play production of the season. They are now 5-0, and their success is notable again—not just outside noise, but a feeling Mahomes acknowledges.
Key Analysis
Some 308 days ago, Mahomes lay on the grass as teammates knelt in prayer, and the Chiefs were a few snaps away from playoff elimination. The Chargers were seven days from clinching a playoff spot. That moment felt like a shift in the dynasty—and it was. But since then, the Chargers have not won a game, while Mahomes has not lost a start. The Chiefs are 5-0, and the Chargers now trail them by five wins in the standings.
Last year, Mahomes said the injury put football in perspective. Sustained success is hard. Only three non-specialists on the Chiefs' flight to Miami Gardens last month were part of their first Super Bowl. The head coach and quarterback remain the same, but the Chargers' situation in Los Angeles is a mess. The league's structure—draft picks and cap space—begs for turnover. The Chiefs are the outlier.
If there was sentimentality on Sunday, it was not about the injury, opponent, or location. It was about the perspective the injury provided—the process, those 308 days. The grind had become routine in Kansas City. Rashee Rice noted the Chiefs had come to expect to win, feeling relief rather than celebration. Travis Kelce emphasized enjoying these moments. Mahomes, the heartbeat of the team, found perspective through his rehab.
"We played in so many Super Bowls, especially in those last few, it's like we—I don't want to say coasted, but we didn't play our best football in the regular season, and we just turned it on in the playoffs," Mahomes said. "Even last year, when stuff wasn't going right, it's like, 'We're going to figure it out. It's just going to happen.'" He is not thinking about the Super Bowl, he insisted. Ten months of ongoing rehab forces you to focus on making it to the next day. He is not hoping to flip a switch; he is seeing flickers of improvement.
The Chiefs played a flawed game: Mahomes threw a terrible interception that cost three points (assuming a field goal for a team that missed two kicks), the punt returner lost a fumble, and two drives reached the 2-yard line without scoring. But they did many things well. They averaged 7.4 yards per play, better than all but one game last year. Mahomes completed 23 of 30 throws with two wide receivers who had never caught an NFL pass, another signed off the street last week, another with five career catches in 20 games, and a hobbled Travis Kelce. It is enough to drive a quarterback mad—or to make him hope for better days. But these are his better days, because the past 308 included far worse.
Originally reported by kansascity.