KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the grand scheme of things, Patrick Mahomes is still a very inexperienced NFL quarterback. There is so much he hasn't seen and so little he has.
The one thing he can be called an expert on? The Denver Broncos.
That's right, for the ninth time as a pro, Mahomes will lace 'em up Sunday as a starting quarterback.
And for the third time he'll be facing "the Ponies."
There are 25 NFL teams Mahomes hasn't played against, including the AFC West rival Oakland Raiders., yet here he is again starting against Denver.
"You get a little bit more familiar with a defense whenever you play them a lot," Mahomes said.
Of course, they're also familiar with him. Mahomes is 2-0 in previous starts at Devner, including a fourth-quarter comeback win Oct. 1 on Monday Night Football.
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"We have to do a better job of containing the quarterback," Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said. "He made most of his plays outside the pocket. It can't happen again."
Yeah, Mahomes was definitely unconventional in beating the Broncos earlier this month — passing for 192 yards outside of the pocket, throwing a ball left-handed, leading his team back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.
"He's a great player," Joseph said. "He's going to make some plays. It really comes down to how we rush and how we cover this guy."
Denver, the only team with multiple chances to try and take down Mahomes, is 0-2 in in those opportunities.
Despite that, cornerback Chris Harris Jr. scoffs at other defenses.
"I've been watching film on everybody else," Harris said. "Everybody else is playing scared. They're not challenging him. Number 10 (Tyreek Hill) is just running around free. That's not how we play."
It may not be how the Broncos play, but Mahomes did throw for 304 yards in Week 4 against them with a touchdown and "number 10" caught nine passes albeit for only 54 yards.
The Broncos also sacked Mahomes just once.
Regardless, it sounds like the Chiefs will be facing a different Broncos defense at noon Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.
"I like when Coach Joseph made the adjustment going back and playing our style of football," wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "And that's man-high, let Von Miller rush the quarterback, let Bradley Chubb go loose. And doing that, the quarterback has to make the perfect throw. Because if he doesn't, it's going to be an interception."
Mahomes did not throw an interception during the previous meeting in Denver. Sanders caught one pass.
Another thing happens when a great quarterback plays a team often, you get tired of hearing about him. Familiarity breeds contempt.
"Obviously, they're a great offense but I have a lot of trust, a lot of faith in our defense," Denver quarterback Case Keenum said. "I think they've got a great plan, great scheme, great players, that can match up well with those guys."
It's true the Denver D is the only unit to hold the Chiefs to under 30 points and it was the first unit to rattle Mahomes, potentially drawing up the blueprint on how to slow him down.
The Jaguars, Patriots, and Bengals all tried to follow suit but Mahomes has thrown for more yards each successive week in October.
"Last game, they threw a ton of stuff at me, a ton of different blitzes and coverages and stuff," Mahomes said of the Broncos. "Being able to look at that tape and see the mistakes I made as well as the things I did well is gonna be something that I can take going into this next game."
The Broncos get yet another early shot at Mahomes.
Unlike the majority of the NFL, they know what's coming. Can they stop it this time?
