KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs fans have seen it dozens of times before.
The pocket collapsed on Patrick Mahomes, but he didn’t panic.
Instead, he kept his eyes downfield, evaded two Baltimore pass rushers and, while running to his right, looked downfield for his favorite target, tight end Travis Kelce.
Deep down the right hash, Kelce had broken into the open, mirroring Mahomes as he rambled toward the Ravens’ sideline.
“He wasn’t even supposed to be on that side of the field, but he continued to get over there and get open," said Mahomes, who lobbed a pass to Kelce for a 23-yard gain — and etched his name in the franchise history books once again.
With that scramble and flick of the wrist, Mahomes officially became the most prolific passer in Kansas City Chiefs history.
The two-time NFL MVP and three-time Super Bowl MVP passed Len Dawson for the all-time franchise record for passing yards in the second quarter of Thursday’s season-opener against Baltimore at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"To pass Len Dawson, what a true icon — not only for the Chiefs, but for the NFL," Mahomes said.
Mahomes entered the season with 28,424 career passing yards in the regular season. He needed 84 to pass Dawson.
That pass to Kelce made Mahomes 8 of 10 for 105 yards midway through the second quarter — and served as a fitting record-breaker, given the connection the pair of future Hall of Famers have.
Mahomes, who had a 1-yard pass to Kelce earlier in the drive that he set the record, has played 86 fewer games with the Chiefs than Dawson, who appeared in 183 games for the club from 1962-75.
Of course, the NFL has morphed from a run-first to a pass-first league and Dawson was at the vanguard of that evolution.
Mahomes recognized that fact, lauding Dawson as a great quarterback and person.
"I was so happy to get to meet him so many times and just him share advice with me," said Mahomes, who kept the football he used on the record-breaking throw.
Mahomes started the game with five straight completions and nearly had the record earlier in the second quarter, but Isiah Pacheco couldn’t hang on to a bullet pass on a wheel route and JuJu Smith-Schuster wasn’t able to make a contested catch at the goal line.
Mahomes started the game with an 11-yard completion to Rashee Rice on the season’s first snap and added a 16-yard pass to Rice later in the drive.
Pacheco turned a swing pass from Mahomes into a 23-yard gain to start Kansas City’s second drive before he found Rice for a 19-yard gain on a quick slant and hit him for a 1-yard gain on a bubble screen the next play.
Mahomes went 5-for-5 for 70 yards in the first quarter. He added an 11-yard pass over the middle to Noah Gray early in the second quarter, inching within three yards of Dawson’s record.
The record-breaking pass came on Kansas City’s fourth drive of the game.
Dawson threw for 28,507 yards in his Hall of Fame career, completing 2,115 passes for 3,696 yards with 237 touchdowns and 178 interceptions in his career.
Dawson, a 1987 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, led the Dallas Texans to the 1962 AFL championship the season before the franchise relocated to Kansas City.
He also led the Chiefs to the Super Bowl IV title.
Dawson, a seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, died in August 2022.
—
