Is Patrick Mahomes playing the best football of his career? Hard to deny it while witnessing the start the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback is having to his 2020 season. Russell Wilson continues to be the favorite for MVP honors, but there's a very serious case to be made for Mahomes as the Chiefs continue to remain amongst the NFL elite.
Mahomes was masterful again in Sunday's win over the Carolina Panthers, finishing 30 of 45 for 372 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions -- a 121.7 passer rating. Over his last two games, Mahomes has completed 61 of 87 passes (70.1%) for 788 yards, nine touchdowns to zero interceptions --- an incredible 132.7 rating.
Andy Reid hasn't been one to hide his feelings on how well Mahomes has played. The Chiefs are getting the game's best player at his absolute best -- a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.
"The things he does behind the scenes and then whether it's look-off, the small, subtle things," Reid said. "You heard Richard Sherman talk about it the other day, just little intricacies of the offense and how he handles it. And everybody has full confidence in him doing his job. I think EB (Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy) would say the same thing standing up here that we have full confidence that he'll do what he needs to do to win a game.
"I mean, that's the way he operates, and whether he's doing it during the week by showing up and working his tail off to make sure he knows the opponent to what you see on game day. I think you're seeing the best of him right now."
Mahomes his having a season that is arguably better than his MVP year two seasons ago. The Chiefs quarterback has completed 66.87% of his passes for 2,687 yards with 25 touchdown passes to one interception through nine games, recording a 115.9 passer rating. Through nine games in his MVP season (2018), Mahomes completed 66.25% of his passes for 2,901 yards with 29 touchdowns to seven interceptions, recording a 116.7 passer rating. Mahomes finished with 50 touchdown passes and 5,097 yards in 2018.
"The year that he threw the 50 touchdowns, he was amazing, obviously. But this year, it's like he's seeing things differently," said Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill, via Nate Taylor of The Athletic. "He's doing more no-looks. He's reading the defense better. He's changing the play. He's just great. He has gotten a lot better."
Mahomes became the fastest player in NFL history to reach 100 touchdown passes, accomplishing the feat in just 40 games. Through his first 40 games, Mahomes has the most passing yards (12,099), most passing touchdowns (101), highest passer rating (110.1), and as thrown the fewest interceptions (19) in NFL history. The Chiefs quarterback is on a historic pace and only getting better by the week.
"I think I just understand the game more," Mahomes said. "I would say last year, whenever I didn't have as many stats to back it up, I'd guess you would say, I felt like I was playing better last year than I did the year before. This year, obviously, we're getting the touchdowns we didn't have last year, I guess you would say, but I feel like every year I'm getting more comfortable within the offense. I'm more comfortable reading defenses, and I understand where the balls going to go before the snap of the ball."
