KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes threw three interceptions last week in a closer-than-expected win at Denver, but the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback’s confidence never wavered.
“I think you know with me I’m not going to be scared to throw it,” Mahomes said after last week’s 34-28 win against the Broncos. “I’m going to keep shooting. I think that's what it takes in order to win. You don’t want to play scared and timid and, when you throw an interception, kind of shut down.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid wouldn’t have it any other way.
“He’ll learn from mistakes, which not everybody does, but he does,” Reid said.
In fact, even in the mindset of the mile-high turnover fest, Reid’s advice to Mahomes was simple.
“He tells me to keep throwing it, keep slinging it,” Mahomes said. “He doesn’t want me to lose who I am. (But) I promise you I know when I’m messing up,” Mahomes said. “When I go to the sideline, I’m hot.”
Rather than pout or become gun shy, Mahomes went to work and the result Sunday at Houston — another closer-than-anticipated win against an AFC bottomfeeder — was the most accurate game of his NFL career.
Mahomes completed 36 of 41 passes for 336 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers in a 30-24 overtime win against the Texans. His 87.8% completion percentage for the game set a new Chiefs franchise record and an NFL record for the highest mark by a QB with at least 40 attempts in a game.
“I think I just went back to the fundamentals,” Mahomes said after beating Houston. “When I watched the tape from the week before, I felt like I left easy throws out there. Today, I tried to take those when they were there and keep third downs manageable.”
It was Mahomes’ eighth 300-yard performance in the last nine games and included 20 consecutive completions to end the game, including all 19 throws in the second half.
He's the first quarterback to complete at least 20 straight passes to end a game since Drew Brees completed 22 in a row to finish a game on Dec. 19, 2019, according to the NFL.
“Pat, he’s tough — mentally tough, physically tough,” running back Jerick McKinnon said. “Above all, he’s one of the greatest competitors I’ve played with.”
The Chiefs haven’t been sharp collectively the last two weeks, but Mahomes’ brilliance — overcoming his own miscues or those made by others — has been apparent in keeping alive hopes for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
“He took care of business today,” Reid said. “He went back to work and worked on it. You’re talking about a guy, if he’s not the MVP in the league, I’m not sure what’s wrong with it. But he cleaned it up.”
Mahomes threw his 35th touchdown pass, joining an elite list of five NFL quarterbacks with four such seasons in NFL history.
He also moved alone into first place on Kansas City's all-time list for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with a 5-yard scramble in the fourth quarter.
It was Mahomes' 11th career rushing touchdown, which broke a tie for first place with Alex Smith (10).
Mahomes (77) also passed Smith (76) for career starts with Kansas City. He's tied with Bill Kenney (77) for third place behind Len Dawson (158) and Trent Green (88).
